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CQEffiiGHT DEPOSm 



LETTERS FROM THE KAISER 
TO THE CZAR 




KAISER AND CZAR ABOARD THE "hOHENZOLLERN" 

The weak Czar was often tricked by the Kaiser when accepting 
his hospitalit}', and many matters of state were settled (to the Kai- 
ser's advantage) aboard the Kaiser's yacht. 



LETTERS FROM THE 
KAISER TO THE CZAR 



COPIED FROM GOVERNMENT ARCHIVES IN PETROGRAD 
UNPUBLISHED BEFORE 1920 



PRIVATE LETTERS FROM THE KAISER TO THE CZAR FOUND IN A 

CHEST AFTER THE CZAR's EXECUTION AND NOW IN 

POSSESSION OF THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT 

COPIED AND BROUGHT FROM RUSSIA 
BY 

ISAAC DON LEVINE 




NEW YORK 
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 



-ss^ 






R^ 



Copyright, 1920, by 
Frederick A. Stokes CoMPAm 



Jll Rights Reserved 



SEP 10 i920 ©CU576333 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Kaiser and Czar Aboard the "Hohenozollern" 

Frontispiece 

FACING 
PAGE 

Letter No. XIII 42 

Letter No. XLIV . 148 

"Dearest Nicky from His Affectionate Friend 

Willy" . 156 

Letter No. XLVI o . . 168 

Comrades in Autocracy 218 



INTRODUCTION 

Upon the execution of Nicholas Romanoff, the 
former Czar of Russia, and his wife and children in 
Ekaterinburg in July, 191 8, a case containing his 
private correspondence was found among his per- 
sonal effects. Among its contents was a batch of 
seventy-three letters from Kaiser Wilhelm to the 
Czar and a much more voluminous batch of letters 
from the Czarina to the Czar. The letters were 
transmitted by the local Ekaterinburg authorities to 
the central government in Moscow, where they are 
kept in the state archives. 

There have been so many absurd stories in cir- 
culation in Europe in connection with the^ Kaiser- 
Czar letters that the circumstances of their publi- 
cation in Europe and America should be made clear 
here. In Great Britain Winston Churchill eulogized 
The Morning Post for obtaining the letters, al- 
though that journal had nothing to do with the 
bringing of the letters out of Russia. The London 
Naval and Military Record commented editori- 
ally on the same subject as follows: "It has been 
left to the enterprise of British journalism to pub- 
lish the last and by far the most damaging exposure 
of Germany's ex-Kaiser." In Paris a prominent 

[ vii ] 



Introduction 



newspaper, describing how I obtained the letters, 
declared that I was enabled to do so through my in- 
fluence with Lenin. In Amsterdam a newspaper 
printed a despatch from its Berlin correspondent an- 
nouncing that the letters had once been published in 
191 7 in a Petrograd monthly periodical. 

Now the facts are quite different from the fore- 
going allegations, which circulated in the European 
press for weeks. It was not the enterprise of British 
but of American journalism which gave the world 
the Kaiser's and Czarina's letters to the Czar. In 
April, 191 9, the writer left the United States to 
go to Soviet Russia in the capacity of correspondent 
for The Chicago Daily News, and made two trips 
there from Scandinavia, one in May and the other 
In September, 19 19. 

During my second visit to Soviet Russia I was 
enabled to gain access to the archives of the govern- 
ment where I discovered, among other things, the 
Kaiser's letters to the Czar, and immediately real- 
ized their enormous historical value. The original 
letters are of course the property of the Russian 
state and there was no question of obtaining them. 
The task consisted of receiving the permission of the 
proper authorities to take copies of the letters. I 
did not need Lenin's influence for this. As a matter 
of fact, I never even met Lenin while in Soviet 
Russia. 

I carried out with me only one copy from the 
original letters of the Kaiser to the Czar. Thi§ 



Introduction 



copy is In my possession and Is the one reproduced 
In this volume. The copies of the letters used by 
The Morning Post in London, the Vossische Zei- 
tiing In Berlin, the Journal in Paris and the other 
European publishers were made from the copy In 
my possession. Being second and third copies, 
they were not free from errors. The present edi- 
tion is therefore the only absolutely authoritative 
one and must be treated as the original edition by 
students of International affairs. 

The letters from the Kaiser to the Czar were writ- 
ten in English, the language of the Russian and Ger- 
man courts, and were usually addressed to "Nicky" 
and signed "Willy." None of these letters, cover- 
ing a period of twenty years, 1894-19 14, has ever 
been published before 1920. The correspondence 
between the Kaiser and the Czar, which was pub- 
lished In a Russian periodical in 19 17 and reprinted 
In a New York newspaper several months later, con- 
sisted of a number of telegrams exchanged between 
Willy and Nicky In the years 1 904-1 907. It ap- 
peared as "The Willy-Nicky Correspondence," and 
the Amsterdam newspaper previously referred to 
confused It with the letters here presented. 

Without questioning the genuineness of the Willy- 
Nicky telegrams, it should nevertheless be empha- 
sized that It Is scarcely possible that no errors should 
have been committed in the transmission of a large 
number of telegrams. In the case of the letters con- 
tained In this volume we have really a set of Irrefu- 

[ix] 



Introduction 



table and unquestionable documents. The Kaiser 
himself confirmed their genuineness, although criti- 
cizing their publication. In a letter written in Janu- 
ary, 1920, from Amerongen, Holland, to Prince 
Fiirstenberg, and reprinted in The London Times, 
on January 28th, the Kaiser wrote regarding these 
letters : 

''What do you think about the unlawful publi- 
cation of the correspondence with Nicholas? These 
people have not the least sympathy in them, and 
I shall be glad if everything is published without 
alterations. I have given orders to Loewenfeldt 
to protest against the publication of these private 
letters, but as this is being done in hostile countries 
he will have less success than in the case of Bis- 
marck. After the treatment I have received and 
still receive from the German people I am not sur- 
prised that the German newspapers participate in 
these dirty practices." 

The Kaiser's letters are of course published with- 
out alterations. There was never any intention to 
do otherwise. Not a word in them is omitted. Al- 
though the Kaiser's English is far from perfect, it 
is left unchanged here. The only change made in 
this edition is the substitution of the word "and" 
for the character "&" which abounds in the original 
letters. 

The numerous errors in spelling are retained. 
The most confusing of these errors is "were" in 
place of "where." Once the Kaiser has "keys" in- 



Introduction 



stead of *'quays," and *'boyes" for ''buoys." The 
other mistakes are understandable. "Beeing" for 
"being," "wether" for "whether," ''takle" for 
"tackle," are common misspellings. Even more com- 
mon are "allready," "allways," "wellfare," ''open- 
ess," "assisstance." The Kaiser writes "courtesey," 
"existant" and "thruthfulness." Instead of "Tur- 
key" he writes "Turky," and instead of "Darda- 
nelles" he spells "Dardanels." His letters are re- 
plete with faulty constructions and contain many 
misspeUlngs in addition to those here mentioned. 

In reply to the Kaiser's complaint about the pub- 
Hcation of his private letters, MaximlUan Harden, 
the noted German publicist, wrote : "The ex-Kaiser 
stigmatizes as a 'dirty' violation of propriety the 
publication of his letters to the Czar Nicholas and 
other monarchs, whereas he considered it to be his 
right and his duty to purloin documents in Belgium, 
to falsify them, and to circulate them all over the 
globe. This, however, is not surprising when the 
German people, who endured an adept in theatrical- 
ism for thirty years, are treated as if they were evil- 
minded, undutiful children." 

The comment on the letters all over the world 
has been as voluminous as it has been many-sided. 
However, three main viewpoints can be discerned in 
the very numerous reviews of the Kaiser's corre- 
spondence. First, the opinion of the Kaiser held by 
The Morning Post, Great Britain's leading Tory 

[xi] 



Introduction 



organ. Second, the comment of The Manchester 
Guardian, the great Liberal journal. Third, the 
average German view of Wilhelm as expressed by 
Professor Walter Goetz. 

To The Morning Post the letters reveal the 
Kaiser as an arch-plotter. Its comment has been 
expressed in a series of comprehensive and virile 
editorials bearing such titles as "the arch-conspira- 
tor," the "honest lago," and "Nemesis." Selections 
from some of the leading articles of The Morning 
Post* are given below: 

The publication of the letters of the German Emperor 
to the Emperor of All the Russias has naturally awakened 
a profound interest both in this country and abroad, in fact 
throughout the civilised world. Never before, perhaps, has 
there been made known in the lifetime of the author so com- 
plete and so voluminous an exposition of the vast and un- 
scrupulous intrigues and the grandiose ambitions of the pow- 
erful and autocratic monarch of a great military nation. 
Thus the Imperial letters make an historical document of 
the highest value, providing the key to the complex and 
hidden machinery of European international policies during 
the ten years preceding the Great War, which was their in- 
evitable and disastrous consummation. In as far as the Ger- 
man Emperor himself is concerned, there is little scope 
for conjecture. Inasmuch as he condemns himself with his 
own hand. History as a general rule is largely a matter of 

* Note. — Many of the notes following the letters in this 
volume have been culled from the columns of The London 
Morning Post. 

[xii] 



Introduction 



piecing together available evidence and filling in the gaps 
with ingenious and learned hypotheses. The discovery of 
new evidence not infrequently invalidates the historian's 
reconstruction, as in the notable instance of the records of 
the French Revolution, lately so admirably rewritten by M. 
Lenotre. But in the case of the letters of William 
HoHENZOLLERN the documents are complete. The records 
of the conversation at one end of the telephone, as it were, 
are precise, and although the written evidence of the replies 
is not available their nature may be divined with a general 
accuracy by the student of the affairs of the time. Light is 
concentrated upon the central figure of the long drama 
which merged into tragedy at last, and in the shadow beyond 
may be discerned other Kings and Emperors, their Min- 
isters and Chancelleries, and beyond these again swarming 
factories founding cannon, and busy dockyards building 
ships of war, and the hosts of armed men. That single 
figure so uncontrollably active in the lighted circle, swiftly 
writing, issuing commands with passionate gesture, continu- 
ally agitates the dimmer groups beyond, and the tremor 
speeds across seas and continents until Peking is perturbed, 
there is a stir in, Tokyo, and even the massive tranquillity 
of Washington is momentarily ruffled. For if there is one 
aspect which more than another saliently emerges from these 
letters, it is that the German Emperor was wholly pos- 
sessed by one master idea, and that idea was war. Sleeping 
or waking, war colored the very texture of his mind. 

Partly as cause and partly as effect, the German Em- 
peror's fixed idea of war was inseparably connected with 
his dynastic ambitions. Step by step these are revealed in 
his letters, and shape themselves into the gigantic plan of a 
vast confederation of States of which Germany should be 

[ xiii ] 



Introduction 



the head. Thence she could dominate the world. It Is the 
old, fatal dream of world-conquest; the vision of Senna- 
cherib, of Alexander, of C^sar, of Napoleon. The 
German Emperor has been called a medlaevallst ; but in 
truth his aspirations derive from thousands of years before 
the Christian era; and when he stood for days rapt in con- 
templation of the disinterment of ancient inscriptions from 
the sun-baked soil of the Mediterranean island it is odds 
but he was thinking of the half-mythical conquerors of van- 
ished civilisations as his progenitors. Like them, the Ger- 
man War Lord was confronted with one formidable ob- 
stacle towering In his path. Russia he might weaken and 
cajole ; France he thought to subdue ; Austria-Hungary was 
obedient; Italy might be persuaded; and as for the smaller 
nations, his foot would be on their necks. But what of 
the British Empire? Supreme on all seas, owning one-fifth 
of the habitable globe, peaceable until attacked, but when 
attacked indomitably stubborn, the English would never 
consent to an European hegemony. They might be de- 
ceived for a time; but ultimately, it seems, they must 
be vanquished. Now and again, in the course of the let- 
ters, that conviction of the German Emperor is vividly 
revealed. For, broadly regarded, the German Emperor's 
main purpose became the conquest and the subjugation of 
the British Empire. The astute suggestion made to the 
Emperor Nicholas that he was threatened in the East 
had its part in bringing about the Russo-Japanese War, 
which left Russia weakened and humiliated; and therefore, 
so reasoned the Kaiser, the more pliant to his will. He 
succeeded, indeed, in fastening upon Russia a commercial 
treaty which ensured German trade predominance, and a 
diplomatic treaty which was accepted by the Russian Em- 

[xiv] 



Introduction 



PEROR, conferring upon Germany political predominance. 
Up to this point it seems that Nicholas was deceived, or 
partly deceived. But what actually happened was that the 
German Emperor's cunning overreached itself. The terms 
of both treaties were of a nature so monstrous that no 
nation would ultimately accept them. 

By this time, too, the German policy had necessarily 
aroused alarm throughout Europe, and awakened antagonis- 
tic forces. Broadly speaking, the answer to the menace 
of a hostile European confederation, to which the German 
Emperor once thought of adding Japan, and, again, the 
United States, was to divide the elements of the combina- 
tion and so attain a balance of power. In this connection 
the world owes very much to the sagacity and diplomatic 
skill of King Edward VII., who was, of course, supported 
by his Ministers. The Triple Alliance secured by the Kaiser 
was balanced by the Triple Entente ; and the German Em- 
peror's design was for the time being frustrated; a failure 
he never forgot nor forgave. The Great War was a tre- 
mendous attempt to redeem that defeat. How craftily 
planned, how skilfully manoeuvred, was the original design, 
are revealed in the letters. And here we may note that 
clever as the German Emperor was, he was not clever 
enough. Of a swift and a penetrating intellect, possessed 
of immense ingenuity, the Kaiser lacked what alone makes 
these gifts effective. He lacked judgment. He lacked com- 
mon sense. Common sense would have told him that world- 
conquest is no longer practicable. Common sense would 
have warned him that to extort too much from a neighbor 
would annul the very purpose of the extortion. And a rea- 
soned judgment would have enabled the Kaiser to perceive 
that even if it were possible to fulfil his dream, the cost 

[XV] 



Introduction 



would be so frightful that none could gain by it, that the 
fulfilment could be no more than the affair of a moment, 
and that the rest would be war, unending war. As matters 
stand, after the event, the war has brought no profit even to 
the victors, but a wide calamity and a profound disease 
which cannot be healed in this generation. And he who be- 
fore all others is most guilty, deprived of his glory, stripped 
of his possessions, discrowned and abject, dwells in a dis- 
honorable exile, the pensioner of a small nation which once 
he despised. . . . 

There can be no doubt that the ex-German Emperor 
was a great letter writer; the letters which he sent to the 
Czar prove it conclusively. 

It is clear that in this correspondence the Emperor set 
out to make himself interesting, and it is equally clear that 
he fully succeeded. Whatever may be the subject on which 
he is expatiating — the French mentality, the modern news- 
paper, the British Navy, the way to manage the people, the 
diplomacy of King Edward, the ''Yellow Peril," the famous 
visit to Jerusalem, and so on — he is always entertaining. 
He was, of course, tremendously interested in a vast num- 
ber of subjects and he knew just enough about them never 
to be grotesque and not enough ever to be dull. And in 
this correspondence, he was at his very best, for he was play- 
ing a great game. Indeed, to break the Franco-Russian 
Alliance, to make the Czar an enemy of England, to place 
Europe under German hegemony was an ambition strong 
enough to make even a dull man lively and to speed a clumsy 
and halting pen. It was only when the writer realised the 
game was up that the letters became shorter and less exu- 
berant. But during those historic days when Great Britain, 
Russia, and France were drawing together under the im- 

[xvi] 



Introduction 



pulse of a common danger, the Imperial scribe used every 
art to cajole, to flatter, to amuse, and to threaten the Em- 
peror Nicholas. Indeed, it is the variety of method em- 
ployed that is one source of special attraction in these let- 
ters. Suddenly, amidst the flatteries, the sage counsels, 
the tender solicitude, the deep sympathy, the mailed fist ap- 
pears, and a threat and almost a command are launched 
forth. Then he changes his tune again. But the aim is al- 
ways the same, and though it failed — perhaps because it 
failed — the letters are of extraordinary interest, not only 
for their "human" side, but because they are the prelude 
to the great storm which broke on the world in 19 14. . . . 

These intimate epistles, addressed to the late Emperor of 
Russia, alone suffice to prove that from first to last the Ger- 
man Emperor, in the prosecution of his vast and sinister 
designs, was so far from acting as a despot, ignoring the 
sentiments and predilections of his people, that he never en- 
tertained the smallest doubt of their absolute and enthusi- 
astic support. To what extent their allegiance had been 
secured by that method of "mass-suggestion," of which a 
good deal has been written, is another question. It is 
enough to know that the German nation was welded to- 
gether as a single instrument to accomplish the triumphant 
destiny of the Great German race. . . . 

It was one of the essential elements in the schemes of the 
German Emperor so to weaken Russia that she should be- 
come subservient to the German hegemony; and the readiest 
means to that end was to embroil Russia with Japan. Thus, 
in these crafty suggestions we trace the origin of the 
Russo-Japanese War. As the series proceeds the Ger- 
man Emperor's hatred of England and his dislike and 
jealousy of King Edward VII. become manifest. But in 

[ xvii ] 



Introduction 



King Edward the German Monarch was dealing with 
an intelligence superior to his own, and a talent for diplo- 
macy to which this country owes much more than has yet 
been revealed. But if the German Emperor hated Eng- 
land, he held France in a stupid contempt, for which he 
subsequently paid a devastating price. 

Although we have not the replies of the Emperor of 
Russia to complete the correspondence, the internal evi- 
dence of the German Emperor's letters shows that the 
Czar by no means allowed his policy to be dominated by 
the German guile. When the decisive moment arrived the 
Emperor of Russia chose the Triple Entente, and the Ger- 
man Emperor's long and elaborate combinations were com- 
pletely foiled. . . . 

In the course of his letters it will be remarked that his 
Imperial Majesty stooped to the basest devices without 
a thought. It was perhaps this singular moral obtuseness 
which ultimately vitiated his diplomacy. He had a blind 
spot in his mind. At the same time the amiable duplicity 
of the German Emperor's correspondence is so admir- 
ably done as to become an effect in art; and the letters of 
William Hohenzollern will assuredly rank as a classic 
in that form of literature. . . . 

One of two things invariably occurred to rulers or states- 
men who tried to deal with the German Emperor. Either 
they were compelled, like Austria and the Ottoman Empire, 
to accept a subordinate, even a servile, position, or, like cer- 
tain British Ministers, they fell into the snares so carefully 
designed by the arch-conspirator. The Marquess of Salis- 
bury, the greatest statesman of his time, entertained no 
illusions concerning the German Emperor, whose extraor- 
dinary instability of character had by 1898 become no- 
[ xviii ] 



Introduction 



torlous. The inconsistency of the letter of May 30, 1898, 
must have been evident to the Emperor of Russia, for if 
tentative offers of alliance w^ere made by Great Britain, 
they were, on the Imperial v^^riter's own showing, conceived 
in the interests of peace, and yet in the same letter and in the 
next the German Emperor plainly insinuates that Great 
Britain is inspired by some sinister design against the peace 
of Europe. "We two," writes the German Emperor to 
the Czar^ "have the same opinions: we want peace, and 
we have sustained and upheld it till now . . . they (the 
British) are trying hard, as far as I can make out, to find a 
Continental army to fight for their interests." 

At that time the feeling of France towards England was 
far from amicable; and that circumstance apparently moved 
the German Emperor to tell the Czar that the "new- 
est move" of the British "is the wish to gain France over 
from you, and they in consequence have suddenly decided 
to send the Duke of Connaught to the French Army 
Manoeuvres, a nice little plan of Courcelles, I think, who 
is ardently at work between Paris and London. I already 
once warned your people of him!" The intention of these 
suggestions is to make as much mischief as possible between 
Russia, France, and England. The Russian Emperor 
is asked to suspect Great Britain of ulterior purposes in- 
imical to Russia. Nothing that England can do is right; 
nor is anything more remarkable in the German Emperor's 
correspondence than his intense hatred and jealousy of 
Great Britain. In this alone is he consistent. One of the 
chief reasons why the Cretan affair, which threatened about 
this time to embroil all Europe, was so difficult to settle is 
now revealed. While Germany was ostensibly helping the 
other Powers to restore order in Crete, where the Turks 

[ xix ] 



Introduction 



were slaying the Christians in their familiar light-hearted 
way, the German Emperor was secretly inciting the Czar 
to side with the Ottoman Empire and to prevent the ex- 
pulsion of the Turks from the island. Diplomacy, in 
fact, was at a stand, and we now know why. The diffi- 
culty was solved by Rear-Admiral Noel (afterwards Ad- 
miral of the Fleet, Sir Gerard Noel), who definitely or- 
dered the Turks to leave Crete, who saw to it that his or- 
ders were obeyed, and who was afterwards publicly com- 
plimented by Lord Salisbury upon his action. 

It is at this period, too, that the German Emperor's 
vast dream of Eastern conquest begins to emerge. He de- 
sires for the time being to secure the support of Russia, as an 
Oriental Power, and her recommendation to the Moham- 
medan world in general. The vision of a Mohammedan 
Empire inspires his memorable voyage to the Holy Land. . . . 

The progress of the correspondence between the ex-Em- 
peror and the late Czar brings us to a very remarkable 
little drama in which the Hohenzollern reveals in a sud- 
den and baleful flash the treachery of himself and of his 
race. He had been egging on the Czar to his disastrous 
Manchurian adventure. He had described himself and the 
Emperor Nicholas as the two crusaders of Christendom 
against the Yellow Peril. With the pen and even with the 
brush he had done his best to rouse the Emperor of Russia 
to a fanatical fervour, and his letters were full not indeed 
of explicit pledges but of hints and implications that he 
might be trusted as a brilliant second, or at least as a benevo- 
lent neutral in any such enterprise. Thus urged, and not, 
we may be certain, only by William, but by all the agents 
of persuasion at the German command, Russia went to war. 
The Emperor Nicholas, as we see from the letter of the 

[XX] 



Introduction 



6th of June, 1904, regarded his Correspondent as a "real 
friend," and this "real friend" overflows with sympathy at 
the Russian naval losses and military embarrassments. The 
"real friend" also is ready to help with any information 
which will widen the quarrel, as, for example, that Japan 
has supplied China with arms made of French steel, and 
that France has been induced by a perfidious England not 
to help her Ally in the field or on the sea : 7/ va sans dire 
that if France had been under the obligation of helping 
you I would, of course, not have budged a finger to harm 
her, for that would have been most illogical on the part of 
the author of the Picture 'Yellow Peril.' " 

But the time comes when Russia is so deeply engaged 
that she must either draw troops from her Western frontier 
or submit to defeat. And then the "real friend" reveals 
himself. He will guarantee that Western frontier; in plain 
language, he will not attack Russia when she can no longer 
defend herself — but at a price, and that price is a Commer- 
cial Treaty. Now there are treaties and treaties, but this 
particular Treaty was, in fact, a Treaty of Exploitation — 
of such exploitation, indeed, that no country — at least no 
country not a Free Trade country — would have submitted to 
it unless under compulsion. Russia was greatly dependent 
upon the German market for the sale of her corn, and in 
1902 Germany had raised the duty on Russian corn from 
43 to 78 per cent. Witte had replied by raising the Rus- 
sian duty on German manufactures. Germany now de- 
manded that the Russian excess duty on her manufactures 
should be abolished, but refused to make any concession in 
the German excess duty on Russian corn. Russia pro- 
tested, but was forced to grant a practically open market 

[xxi] 



Introduction 



to German manufactures and preferential railway terms 
without any reciprocal benefit. . . . 

There is naturally some delay in signing such a document, 
and the Emperor William writes — from the Mediterranean 
— a letter which in one lurid flash reveals that sinister 
character of which we have spoken. He speaks with ill- 
concealed irritation of the delay, and adds: 

"What a lark it would be if you suddenly were to 
thump your imperial fist on the 'Table of green cloth,' and 
give the lazy ones a jump ! After all, one cannot wait for 
ever, considering the many months that have already been 
wasted. A promise of a nice picnic in Siberia will, I am 
sure, do wonders." The Emperor, in fact, is to threaten hi^ 
Ministers with Siberia if they do not sign a treaty disastrous 
to Russia! And the Kaiser thinks that the Czar will be 
amused by such a proposal! We are left wondering what 
the Czar replied to his "real friend," but we may imagine 
that the reply was tinged with sarcasm. 

To the Liberal Manchester Guardian the letters 
show the Kaiser as a contemptible figure, "a medias- 
vallst fanatic on a modern throne." He is charac- 
terized as an "anti-Liberal," an "arch-Tory," a 
most irresponsible person in one of the most respon- 
sible oflSces In the world. The Guardian writes; 

It is appalling to think that the brain behind them (the 
letters) was for many years the most self-assertively active 
in the international affairs of the world, and that a nation 
with the immense capacity and energy of the Germans 
should not have shaken itself free of such captaincy before 
the catastrophe came. . . . 

[ xxil ] 



Introduction 



At bottom the Kaiser had only one subject — the inde- 
feasible excellence of monarchy by divine right. Whatever 
else he might mention, the Kaiser was aWays asserting 
by implication the infallibility of anointed sovereigns. "We 
Christian Kings and Emperors," he writes, "have one holy 
duty imposed on us by Heaven, that is, to uphold the prin- 
ciple von Gottes Gnaden [by the Grace of God]." He 
evidently believed it. As one reads on through the letters 
one becomes steadily more and more thankful that in Eng- 
land we dealt with such stuff, once for all, in the seven- 
teenth century. King Charles's head keeps on coming in, 
all over the manuscript. . . . 

These letters from the Kaiser to the Czar suggest 
obliquely a sinister sketch of the last unhappy autocrat of 
Russia. For many of the Kaiser's letters are such as it was 
a baseness in the Czar to receive without sending such a 
stinging reply as would have stopped the whole ignoble cam- 
paign of back-biting and disloyalty. While these letters in 
which the Kaiser bespattered the whole French nation with 
contemptuous abuse were going — apparently unrebuked, at 
any rate unprevented — to the Czar, the Czar was posing 
in public as the loyal and chivalrous friend of France. While 
the Czar was an honoured guest of the people of France 
he was accepting at any rate a passive part in a correspon- 
dence in which his hosts, and especially their army, were 
accused of dishonour and lying, corruption and cowardice. 
We knew already that before the Russian Revolution no 
military secret of ours or France's was safe at the Russian 
Court. And now we see why. If these letters were what 
the Czar would read from the Kaiser during the honey- 
moon of the Franco-Russian Alliance, there was no bar of 
honour left to keep "Willy" and "Nicky" from sending and 

[ xxiii ] 



Introduction 



receiving abuse of France and England during the war. 
The luckless Czar cannot answer now for his passive 
complicity in this breach of decency. In a sense, we cannot 
even accuse him of personal failure. Fate set him up for 
an autocrat, and whatever may have been true in some sim- 
pler age of the world, if there ever was any, it is clear 
now that a man cannot be brought up as an autocrat with- 
out such damage to judgment and character as makes him 
unfit to exercise any determining influence on public af- 
fairs. The Kaiser's letters are those of a lost mind — not, 
apparently, a mind organically deficient, but a mind deprived 
of all sense of the relative values of things by the lifelong 
nursing of the illusion that some 78,000,000 men and women 
are "his," as the deer in a park are his, and that God has 
made it his, the Kaiser's, job to go up and down the world 
scheming and bluffing and grabbing and pulling wires and 
setting other peoples by the ears in order to get "his" peo- 
ple on in the world and show "his" Reichstag how little it 
can do as compared with a modern Frederick the Great 
or Henry the Fifth. The wires pulled in these letters 
were seldom very nice. Sometimes they were disreputable 
with a vengeance. The setting-on of Russia to wear herself 
out in fighting Japan, for the honour of Christ and the 
confusion of Buddha, was pretty bad. But the letters 
written in the prosecution of that piece of policy are rurj 
close by one written a little before Christmas, 1898, from 
Palestine, in which fervour about Holy Places is oddly 
jumbled with almost incoherent rage at the failure of 
France and England to go to war about Fashoda. This 
passionate cultivation of ill-will between neighbours is the 
most repulsive ingredient in the diplomatic method of the 
Kaiser. Shakespeare's Bolingbroke, another typical Old 

[ xxlv ] 



Introduction 



Diplomatist, gave it as a precept of statecraft to his son to 
"busy giddy minds in foreign quarrels." The Kaiser tried 
to improve on this by busying foreign minds in giddy quar- 
rels. In these letters he tries to embroil Russia w^ith Japan, 
with France, and, apropos of Crete in 1898, vv^ith Eng- 
land, whom he accuses of an intention to grab Crete or Suda 
Bay, just as he had accused us of plotting to violate the 
Dardanelles when we tried, somewhat feebly, to dissuade 
Abdul Hamid from murdering Armenians. The Old Di- 
plomacy is seen, again, in its full panoply of cynicism where 
Mr. Chamberlain made his famous overture to Germany 
for an alliance at a time when our relations with France 
were at their worst and our yellow press was genially pro- 
posing to "roll France in mud and blood," contrary to the 
advice of slow-coaches like ourselves. On getting the offer, 
the Kaiser at once wrote a glowing account of its hand- 
someness to the Czar, pointedly indicating that the sug- 
gested league would include England, Germany, Austria, 
Italy, the United States, and Japan, and exclude Russia 
and France, and then went on: "Now, as my old and 
trusted friend, I beg you to tell me what you can offer me 
and will do if I refuse." Simply the auction idea. All 
the balm on this anointed King did not prompt him to any- 
thing nobler than that. 

Professor Walter Goetz's comment on the 
Kaiser's letters may be said to be a fair expression 
of Germany's view of the Kaiser after the publica- 
tion of his correspondence with the Czar. This 
view is that although Wilhelm was an irresponsible 
person, although his mistakes were numerous, he 
nevertheless sincerely worked for peace and the 

[ XXV ] 



Introduction 



war was not of his making. Upon the publication 
of the Kaiser's letters in Germany, the Nationalists, 
the strongest group of monarchists in the country, 
at their convention in Cologne, adopted a resolution 
repudiating their former emperor. In part, this 
resolution read: "The Kaiser's letters give a true 
picture of his haphazard, irresponsible policy which 
vacillated constantly. The effect of these letters has 
been revolting. Although we are still convinced 
monarchists, we have the right to criticize. There- 
fore, we announce that the person who was our 
former Kaiser is no longer representative of our 
monarchistic principles." 

Professor Goetz sees in the Kaiser a poor diplo- 
matist primarily, a man who chased after wild 
schemes without tending to the vital interests of Ger- 
many. The Kaiser is represented as having had 
good intentions, but as blundering in his efforts to 
accomplish them. Profesor Goetz's article, in part, 
follows : 

These letters need not shun the light of publicity. They 
do, it is true, exhibit all the foibles which detract from the 
picture that Wilhelm II. presents to the observer; still 
on the other hand they all bear witness to his good inten- 
tions and, above everything else, to his honest desire for 
peace. This positive statement may well be made, before 
any opponents, filled with prejudice, will exploit them for 
their purposes. 

The letters are written in English, the language which 
both rulers always used, in conversation as well as in writ- 

[ xxvi ] 



Introduction 



ing to each other. The Czar's answers are missing; here 
and there some traces as to how they ran can be found in the 
letters of Wilhelm II. For us', however, those answers 
would be secondary in interest, compared with the Kaiser's 
expressions. Hardly any evidence wmU be needed to estab- 
lish the fact that Wilhelm II. was the personality with 
far more strength and initiative. As the letters show, 
the active political aims are on his side. He wants to 
produce an impression on the Czar; he wants to cement 
Russia's policy with that of Germany, in accordance with 
the needs of the German interests and the peace of Eu- 
rope. It would surely be desirable to have the Czar's an- 
swers; they would settle beyond any doubt the historical 
events. Still, at this moment the world is concerned with 
Wilhelm II., with his alleged responsibility for the world 
war, with his entire personality, and for this purpose the 
share borne by him in this correspondence will suffice for 
us. The contents of the letters are ample enough to give 
us an insight into the Kaiser's political realm of thought, 
although high politics is the very subject about which we 
are being informed only in a fragmentary way, and some 
important questions are not discussed. Moreover, in order 
to form a final judgment, the reader would have to be 
placed in a position to follow through a similar series of 
confidential letters the simultaneous relations towards Queen 
Victoria of England and King Edward VII. ; for how- 
ever close and unquestionably evident the friendship towards 
Nicholas II. was, and however pointed some expressions 
he uses about England may sound, still friendship and tac- 
tics were undoubtedly closely in touch with each other on 
all these occasions of political intercourse, and the urgent 
desire again and again shown by the Kaiser for new possi* 
[ xxvii ] 



Introduction 



bilitfes of intercourse can be taken only as indicating his 
apprehension that influences brought by others to bear upon 
Nicholas II. might interfere with the direction that his 
German friend was attempting to give to matters. 

WiLHELM II., who overrated himself and his words to 
such a marked extent, was evidently unable to realize that 
it was just he, almost more than anj^body else, who jarred 
upon the feelings of others and provoked unpleasant opin- 
ions; he believed in his charming amiability, in his persua- 
sive talents and in the deeply rooted right of his convictions. 
He was not conscious of the want of tact which not in- 
frequently went hand in hand with affability and estranged 
from him persons of importance. Appearances pointed to 
it that the meetings with the Czar were successful — that 
political results sprung from them; and this is why this 
expedient was resorted to over and over again. Undoubt- 
edly the Czar was loyally devoted to the Kaiser and in- 
clined to heed the influence of his friend, who was about as 
much ahead of him in age as in length of reign, and whom 
he — this is said with hesitation and uncertainty — may have 
admired for his brilliant qualities. 

Such were the natural dispositions and limitations which 
engendered in Wilhelm II. the first great deception in 
which he was living: namely the belief that a general policy 
could be built up on the personal relations of the rulers. 
The very personality of the Czar would hardly suffice to 
ofFer the securities required for such an assumption. For 
however the descriptions of the Czar that have so far ap- 
peared, may vary in detail, still all critics agree as to the 
lack of a strong and clearly expressed will on his part. It 
is true that the Czarina, with her German inclinations, is 
likely to have exercised considerable influence over her hus- 
[ xxviii ] 



Introduction 



band; still the letters published in this book furnish the 
proof that all brotherly friendship could not divert the Rus- 
sian policy from its ultimate fatal aims. The Kaiser had, 
so it seems, tried everything to adapt himself to the Czar's 
personality and to retain his confidence. He had shown to 
him and the Russian naval office secret German ship-build- 
ing plans, w^hile giving utterance to the thought that the 
fleets of both countries vrere to be considered as one great 
organization ; he offered a suggestion that the German Bag- 
dad railway might serve to transport Russian troops in a 
trice from Odessa to Koweit on the Gulf of Persia, so as 
to halt the British there; he informed the Czar at once 
of the English alliance offered in 1898; yet, after all, 
neither friendship nor confidence was the decisive factor in 
high politics. 

In the same way as the Kaiser was relying on erroneous 
premises when judging of the formal elements of politics, 
he was unable to place himself in the midst of the condi- 
tions that existed in the world. However modern the 
Kaiser has often appeared to be when handling questions 
concerning the future of Germany, when showing an in- 
terest in technical problems and conferring with economical 
experts whatever their creed might be, a fundamental con- 
trast still existed between him and the world of today. De- 
voted as he was to the duties imposed on him by his vocation 
as a ruler, he could not help viewing that vocation as a di- 
vine mission and this led him to a blind overestimation 
of the princely system and of princely persons, and to an 
underestimation, no less blind, of other forms of govern- 
ment, and other persons. The letters published in this 
volume are rich in examples of this disastrous imagination. 
It was this mistaken idea which, notwithstanding all plainly 

[ xxix ] 



Introduction 



visible notes of warning, led to the belief that Germany and 
Russia had to represent common monarchical interests, in op- 
position to an inferior world. An understanding of real 
facts, while found here and there, is yet on the whole lack- 
ing to a surprising extent. Roughly speaking, the letters 
start with the time when Germany entered into world pol- 
itics. It might be assumed therefore that the occasion ex- 
isted for discussing and settling the relations of Germany 
with the great world powers. But the Kaiser is hardly 
ever seen to handle such concrete questions as would ad- 
just contrary views, establish a community of interests and 
safeguard the course of the policy of Germany. Always the 
''traditional friendship" between the Hohenzollerns and 
the Czars, and next to that also the community of mo- 
narchical interests, are the proposed link to connect Russia 
and Germany. Republican institutions, the parliamentary 
system, anarchy, nihilism and revolution are pushed forward 
by the Kaiser and presented as possessing a dangerous inner 
relationship ; this perspective is opened before the ally of the 
French Republic, to frighten him. In the common interest 
the cry is raised to beware of English intrigues (nor, of 
course, can there be any doubt that they existed) ; but in 
vain will the reader look for political ideas that could have 
established a Russian-German community of interests on a 
solid basis. Instead of this, the "Yellow Peril" dominates 
the Kaiser; in the Far East he sees looming a menace to 
the white race, to western civilization. This thought is re- 
iterated like a monomaniac's idea — the difficulty of German 
world politics had never in any way entered the mind of the 
Kaiser when he imagined the w^arding off of ''Buddhism, 
heathenism and barbarism" as common tasks which were to 
bind together the European powers. Or did he bring for- 

[ XXX ] 



Introduction 



ward here views that were to occupy only the Russian mind, 
and was it his intention to divert Russia with all means 
towards eastern Asia? 

German statesmen surely were pleased to see Russia 
draw herself back from her old favorite field of trouble- 
making activity, the Balkans, and map out aims in the east 
which were likely to occupy her for decades to come. How- 
ever, it is not Germany who has pointed out to Russia this 
new field, but the successes of the Japanese in the war against 
China gave the impulse to Russia to proceed in that direc- 
tion. Her intention was to secure the eastern sea coast 
and an influence on China, before Japan could become an 
annoying competitor. Russian public opinion had for weeks 
been aroused against Japan, and in favor of having free play 
in the east, before the Kaiser expressed himself to the Czar 
in this matter. Russia was the leading power in the com- 
mon action of Germany, France and Russia against Japan; 
no instigation from Germany was needed to make Russia 
discover her interests in eastern Asia and stand up for them 
with increasing obstinacy. If the Kaiser, in language rich 
with enthusiasm, extolled the Czar as the author of these 
new political tendencies, we might well find in this fact 
a hope for deliverance from the nightmare which Russia 
had constituted for Europe, as well as a hope for common 
advantages, as is clearly shown by the wish expressed for a 
German coaling station in the orient. 

German politics, of course, had to take into consideration 
one more point: to divert Russia from joint action with 
France against Germany. Surely, the Kaiser cannot be 
blamed in this case for harboring such a wish. In attempt- 
ing to realize his desire, he chose the means of stirring up 
the Czar's monarchical instinct against the French Repub* 

[ xxxl ] 



Introduction 



lie. This could, however, have but little effect, after Czar 
Alexander III. had once overcome this inborn dislike and 
closed with the republic an unprejudiced alliance. Later, 
in 1904 and 1905, came the exceedingly strange attempt 
to draw France into a Russian-German alliance. This may 
well be considered as the culminating point of the entire 
correspondence. 

Undoubtedly it would have been a full triumph for the 
Kaiser's policy had he been able now to effect new and 
clearly defined arrangements with Russia. Not only would 
this have disposed of the charges based on his non-renewal 
of Bismarck's "reinsurance" treaty, which had guaranteed 
to Germany the friendly neutrality of Russia in case of an 
attack of France, and there would thus have been inaugu- 
rated a better and more honest form of cooperation with 
Russia; but the policy of Edward VII. would also have 
met with a serious obstacle, and the French hope for re- 
venge would have been ultimately doomed. The refusal of 
the English alliance offer of 1898 and 1901, which meant 
the critical turning-point for the entire position of Ger- 
many, would have been counterbalanced; she would have 
won new safety. All this makes it easy to understand the 
exulting satisfaction which beams forth from the letters 
written by the Kaiser at that time. 

But very soon it was to become plain that the weavers 
of this loom had been working entirely without Bismarck's 
masterly hand. The very first intimations contained in the 
Kaiser's letter of July 27th about the secret treaty are 
surprising: so this alliance, which would indeed have taken 
a foremost rank in the annals of history, had been closed by 
the two emperors in a personal conference of one day's dura- 
tion, without the cooperation of the authoritative ministers? 
[ xxxii ] 



Introduction 



The chancellor of the German Empire received confidential 
information only after the Kaiser's return from his jour- 
ney, and the same thing happened with the Russian minis- 
ter of the exterior. 

But if there still existed a remnant of political sagacity, 
now was the time for it when the seriousness of the mat- 
ter forced itself on the understanding; when a way had to 
be found to escape this desperate situation. It sounds like 
the statement of a man either totally blind or clearly 
strained in his utterances, when on January 29th, 1906, 
the Kaiser resorts to a coarse jest about the "wood- 
cutter Fallieres" (meaning the president of the French Re- 
public) in attempting to get rid of the significant fact that 
the Czar wants to receive a French aide-de-camp in his 
suite; so funny does this arrangement look to the Kaiser 
that he can hardly check his mirth. Was he really unable 
to see how France was beginning to eclipse him even in 
the Czar's personal surroundings? And furthermore: in 
June, 1906, the Kaiser learned, from what the Czar told 
him, that England was trying to come to an understanding 
with Russia about Asia. Not even this fact prompts the 
Kaiser to take up the concrete questions that are to be 
solved; it merely causes him to become worked up again 
and again about the "Yellow Peril," which he believes 
to have discovered, and which according to him Is to help 
bridge over the conflicting interests in Europe and the 
near east. It would appear that he fails to recognize, while 
thus reasoning, that the differences between Japan and Amer- 
ica, Japan and Russia are of a political and economic na- 
ture, and that the alliance of England with Japan satis- 
fied the immediate interests of both countries more satis- 
[ xxxlii ] 



Introduction 



factorily than a crusade of the white against the yellow 
race would have done. 

Thus the political accomplishments of these letters are not 
especially encouraging. In fact, they allow the reader to 
look only into details, but not into the whole of the Ger- 
man-Russian relations. Several of the most important ques- 
tions, for instance the Russian suggestion to interfere in the 
Boer War, are not referred to in the letters as we have 
them. But they do show how a policy went to grief which 
had attempted to solve the gravest problems with insuffi- 
cient means. They show the Kaiser not as the nation's 
political leader, but filled with untenable ideas as to the 
vocation of a sovereign and international politics, and they 
show us the difficulties under which the responsible func- 
tionaries of the imperial government had to work the en- 
tire time. Yet, one thing these letters disclose without any 
doubt: never has the Kaiser occupied himself with schemes 
of attack, with preparations for the world war. The domi- 
nating thought in every instance is how to assure peace. 
That he wanted to see Germany and Russia as the center 
of the league which was to guarantee peace, needs no de- 
fense. For he had to transact German, not French or Eng- 
lish politics. In making efforts to free Russia from the 
French and English embrace, he acted within his rights 
(however inadequate were his means) ; the very course of 
events has proven that this embrace ultimately meant the 
world war. That the Kaiser wanted to avoid this war, is 
demonstrated by these letters, and this is what makes them 
historical documents which will bear testimony against our 
enemies as long as an impartial science of history will exist. 

Valuable as the contemporary comment on the 
Kaiser's letters is, the final judgment on them and 
[ xxxiv ] 



Introduction 



their author must be left to the future when pas- 
sions and prejudices will have given way to calm 
investigation and impartial analysis. History will 
announce its own sentence on the Kaiser only when 
the letters of his correspondents, Czar Nicholas of 
Russia, King Edward of England, Francis Joseph 
of Austria-Hungary, the Sultan of Turkey and the 
Balkan kings are revealed to the world. So far 
only the archives of the Romanoffs have been made 
public by the Russian Government. What a boon 
to humanity it would be if the enormous volume of 
truth lying buried in the archives of a dozen Euro- 
pean courts, existing and extinct, were suddenly to 
be disclosed to humanity! 

Isaac Don Levine. 



Chicago, 
April, 1920. 



[ XXXV 1 



Neues Palais, 8/X1/94 

My dear Nicky 

The heavy and responsible task for which Provi- 
dence has destlnled you has come upon you with the 
suddeness of a surprise, through the so unexpected 
and untimely death of your dear lamented father.^ 
These lines are to express my fullest and warmest 
sympathy with you and your Allx ^ and your poor 
distressed mother.^ I can well understand the feel- 
ings which must have agitated your heart In wit- 
nessing the ebbing away of the life of your father, 
as his Illness and sudden passing away was so very 
like my own dear Papa's;* with whose character and 
kind geniality the late Czar had so many llkness. 
My prayers to God for you and your happiness are 
unceasing. May heaven comfort you In your grief 
and give you strength for your heavy duties, and 
may a long and peaceful reign give you the oppor- 
tunity of looking after the welfare of your subjects. 
The sympathy and real grief at the so untimely end 
of your lamented father in my country will have 
shown you how strong the monarchical Instinct Is 
and how Germany feels for you and your subjects. 

[I] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

As former you will always find me the same In undi- 
minished friendship and love to you. What our poli- 
tical ideals are we both know perfectly and I have 
nothing to add to our last conversation in Berlin,^ 
I only can repeat the expression of absolute trust in 
you and the assurance that I shall always cultivate 
the old relations of mutual friendship with your 
house In which I was reared by my Grandfather,^ 
and some examples of which I was so glad to be 
able to give to your dear Papa In these last six 
months of his reign, and which I am happy to hear 
were fully appreciated by him. I would have come 
myself to pray with you at the funeral,'^ but I have 
so much to do with administration at home that it is 
impossible. Henry will be the bearer of my mes- 
sages. Gen. V. Plessen,^ commandant of my Head- 
quarters, Lieut. Col. V. Moltke ^ my Aide de Camp, 
and Gen. v. Villaune ^^ your old friend will accom- 
pany him on board his ship to Cronstadt. At the 
same time by land Col. v. Saussin of the Kaiser 
Alexander Garde Grend. Reg. I. will report himself 
to you as the new Chef of the Regiment. Whereas 
to your Regiment of Hussars^^ I have given 
your name of which they will be immensely proud. 
In the first named Guard Regiment the person of the 
late Tsar was always highly venered and last Mon- 
days the whole corps of Its officers and the four 
Colours of the Reglnal joined their prayers with 
mine of the chapel of the Russian Embassy at Ber- 
lin. Now, dearest Nicky, Good bye, God bless and 

[2] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

protect you and dear Allx and give you happiness 
in your new married life, that Is the warm wish of 

Your most aff-ate and devoted 

friend and cousin 

William. 



NOTES 

1. Alexander III., the father of Nicholas 11. , died at Livadia on 
November ist, 1894. 

2. Princess Alix of Hesse, to whom Nicholas was betrothed. 
They were married 18 days after the date of this letter, on 
November 26th, 1894. 

3. The Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna, formerly Princess 
Dagmar of Denmark. 

4. Emperor Frederick. 

5. The conversation referred to took place on January 28th, 
1894. 

6. William I., the first German emperor. 

7. The funeral of the late Czar took place on November 19th, 
1894. Prince Henry of Prussia represented the Kaiser. 

8. Von Plessen was commandant of the Kaiser's headquarters 
since 1892. 

9. Lieutenant-Colonel von Moltke — a nephew of the great Moltke 
— was the Kaiser's aide-de-camp since 1891. From 1906 to 
December, 1914, he was Chief of the German General Staff. 

10. Von Villaune is probably General Carl von Villauny. 

11. The 8th Hussars. 



[3] 



II 

Potsdam, 5/1/95. 
My dear Nicky 

Your kind letter which Knorring brought to me 
involved very interesting but very sad news. I am 
very thankful for your explanation and fully under- 
stand the motives which prompt you to decide about 
Count Schouvaloff.^ In the same time I can assure 
you that I am deeply grieved at losing excellent Paul, 
who was the only ambassador at Berlin with whom 
I was on really intimate terms and who was an ''ami 
intime" to me as far as a non-German could claim 
such name. I will miss him very much indeed! He 
fully deserves the eulogies you gave him in your 
rescript and the near and intimate relations of our 
Courts and People could not have been better looked 
after than by him. I hope and trust that the person 
whom you are going to select to replace him will be 
able to carry on the work in the same manner and 
with the same thruthfullness and openess of character 
like Schouvaloff; as the relations of our two coun- 
tries rest on traditional bases, quite other than those 
with other nations, and are of commanding influence 
on the whole of the world! At your dear Fathers 

[4] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 



express wish I replaced Schwelnltz^ by Werder, if 
I could at the same time express a wish, it would be 
that you chose either Pahlen,^ Richter^ or Staal^ as 
remplagants if possible.^ 

Now let me wish you a Happy New Year at the 
side of that dear Angel Mix, and may it be a year 
of peace and prosperity ! My Xmas gift will I hope 
amuse you, it is an album with photos from the 
Fahnenweihe at BerHn. 

Hoping that we shall be able to meet each other 
somewhere this year 

I remain 

Your most aff-ate friend 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. Count Schouvaloff was one of Russia's foremost diplomats. 
He was Russian Ambassador to London in 1878, during the 
Berlin Conference. On January 3rd, 1895, he was transferred 
from his post as Russian ambassador in Berlin, which he filled 
for nine years, to the Governor-Generalship of Warsaw. 

2. General von Schweinitz was German ambassador in Petrograd 
until 1892, when after Bismarck's fall, he was replaced by 
General von Werder. 

3. Count von der Pahlen a high dignitary of the Russian court. 

4. General Richter was chief of the Czar's Military Household. 

5. Georges de Staal was Russian ambassador in London from 
1884 to 1903. 

6. The Kaiser's suggestions were ignored by the Czar, and Count 
Osten-Sacken was appointed to succeed Count Schouvaloff. 

[5] 



Ill 

Berlin 7/11/95 
Dearest Nicky 

Egloffsteln^ will, I hope, be able to bring over the 
whole heap of porcelain without any breakage. He 
is instructed to arrange the table so as it would be 
if you gave a dinner for 50; so that you should 
have the coup d'oeil of the whole affair. I hope that 
my manufacturer has done everything to fulfill your 
wishes and that the present may be useful to you 
both. 

Since the sad weeks you had to go through have 
passed much has happened in Europe. You have 
lost an excellent old servant of your predecessors, 
old Giers,^ who was a very good fellow whom I 
much esteemed. France has changed par surprise 
her head and government^ and through the amnesty 
opened the doors to all the worst malefactors the 
former people with difficulty had managed to im- 
prison. The impulse given to the Democrats and 
the Revolutionary party is also to be felt here. My 
Reichstag* behaves as badly as it can, swinging back- 
wards and forwards between the socialists egged on 
by the Jews, and the ultramontane Catholiks; both 

[6] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

parties beeing soon fit to be hung all of them, as far 
as I can see. 

In England the ministry^ is toddUng on to its fall 
amidst universal derision ! In short everywhere the 
"principe de la Monarchie" is called upon to show 
itself strong. That is why I am so glad at the capi- 
tal speech^ you made other day to the deputations 
in response to some addresses for reform. It was 
very much to the point and made a deep impression 
everywhere. 

For the opening of our CanaP in the end of June 
I have invited all European Governments to send 
warships to Kiel, I hope your fleet will also be rep- 
resented by a ship or two ? 

With my respects to your Mamy and many com- 
pliments to Alix, I remain 

Your most aff-ate friend 

Willy 



NOTES 

A Marshal of the Kaiser's Court, who conveyed Wilhelra's 
wedding present to the Czar. 

Nicholas de Giers was Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs 
since 1882. 

M. Casimir-Perier, President of the French Republic, resigned 
on January 15th, 1895, when the Dupuy Cabinet was over- 
thrown by the Chamber. M. Felix Faure was elected President 
on January 17th, and on January 26th, M. Ribot formed a 
Cabinet which introduced and carried a bill giving amnesty 
to political offenders. 

E7] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

4. On December 6th, 1894, at the first sitting in the new Reich- 
stag building, six socialists refused to rise when the president 
called for three cheers for the Kaiser. 

5. The Roseberry government fell on June 21st, 1895. 

6. The historic speech made by the young Czar on January 29th, 
in reply to a deputation of the Zemstvos come to plead for 
reforms. Nicholas II. spoke of the reforms asked by the Zems- 
tvos as "unrealizable dreams," concluding his speech with the 
memorable words, "I shall uphold the principle of autocracy 
as firmly and unflinchingly as did my ever-lamented father." 

7. The Kiel Canal was opened on June 21st, 1895. 



[8] 



IV 

KaLTENBRONN ^ SCHWARZWALD 16/IV 95 

Dearest Nicky 

As Prince Radolin^ leaves shortly for Petersburg 
I send these few lines by him. He Is an excellent 
and warm friend of mine, who has been proved by 
the difficult task he had when beeing Papa's Chief 
of the Household during his short reign he stub- 
bornly resisted any trials of Intrigue from any side. 
You may place full and implicit confidence In him, 
his discreetness Is proverbial and he is burning to 
do everything in his power to please us both and 
to tighten the traditional ties which unite our fam- 
ilies and countries since nearly a century. He hates 
the Poles and has no more to do with them or In- 
terest In them than with the Sandwich Islanders. 

I thank you sincerely for the excellent way In 
which you initiated the combined action of Europe^ 
for the sake of its interests against Japan. It was 
high time that energetic steps were taken, and will 
make an excellent Impression In Japan as elsewhere. 
It shows to evidence how necessary It Is that we 
should hold together, and also that there Is existant 
a base of common interests upon which all European 

[9] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

nations may work in joint action for the welfare of 
all as is shown by the adherence of France to us two. 
May the conviction that this can be done without 
touching a nations honour, take root more and more 
firmly, then no doubt the fear of war in Europe will 
dissipate more and more. The kind and most valu- 
able messages which you sent me through Osten 
Sacken* by Count Eulenburgs transmission in Vienna 
have given me a signal proof of your loyalty and 
openness towards me. \I shall certainly do all in my 
power to keep Europe quiet and also guard the rear 
or Russia so that nobody shall hamper your action 
towards the Far East ! For that is clearly the great 
task of the future for Russia to cultivate the Asian 
Continent and to defend Europe from the inroads 
of the Great Yellow race. In this you will always 
find me on your side ready to help you as best I can. 
You have well understood that call of Providence 
and have quickly grasped the moment; it is of im- 
mense political and historical value and much good 
will come of it. I shall with interest await the fur- 
ther development of our action and hope that, just . 
as I will gladly help you to settle the question of j 
eventual annexations^ of portions of territory for 
Russia, you will kindly see that Germany may also be 
able to acquire a Port somewhere were it does not 
"gene" you... I am afraid that, as the Norwegians® 
kre in a state bordering on insanity I may not be 
able to make my summer tour there, but shall have 
to cruise about on the Swedish coast of the Baltic. 

[lO] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

Should that be the case, could not we have a meeting 
somewhere for our two yachts were it suits you and 
have quiet little chat between ourselves? It would 
be so nice. Now good bye dearest Nicky, give my 
best love to Alix and respectful compliments to your 
Mama, from Ever 

Your most devoted and affate friend 

Willy 

P.S. Radolin is quite "eingeweiht" in all my ideas 
I just developed to you. 



NOTES 

1. Shooting box in Black Forest near Wildbad. 

2. German ambassador in Constantinople, 1892-1895; in Petro- 
grad, 1895-1901 ; in Paris, 1901-1910. He succeeded General 
von Werder at Petrograd. 

3. The protest of Russia, France and Germany made on April 
24th against the Chinese-Japanese Treaty of Shimonoseki of 
April 17th, which forced Japan to give up the Liao-tung penin- 
sula and Port Arthur. 

4. Count Nicholas Osten-Sacken, Russian ambassador in Berlin. 

5. These annexations were Germany's seizing of Kiao-Chau, 
Russia's seizing of Port Arthur and England's seizing of Wei- 
hai-wei in 1898. 

6. Norway was in the midst of a great political crisis. Ten years 
later the separation of Norway and Sweden took place. 



["] 



Stora Sundby lo/vn 95 

Dearest Nicky 

My journey in Sweden and along Its shores bring 
me opposite to your shores and to your buen retiro, 
and I cannot let this moment pass, when I am only 
a short cruize away from you, without sending you 
a line as I shall not unhappily be able to meet you 
on the salty brine. Let me once more thank you 
with all my heart for the sending of those splendid 
shlps^ of yours, which so ably and powerfully repre- 
sented the Russian Navy at Kiel. Alexel^ was kind- 
ness and joviality Itself and did everything In his 
power to make Intercourse with our Russian com- 
rades everything that could be wished for. Your 
kind permission to place him a la suite of our navy 
made my officers very proud and seemed to have 
given him pleasure. I had the opportunity of some 
serious talk about Eastern Asian Affairs with Alexei 
and also his good old Baron Schilling who was a very 
great friend of my Grandfathers. He will I sup- 
pose already have reported to you about it. I was 
glad to be able to show, how our interests were en- 
twined in the Far East, that my ships had been or- 

[12] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

dered to second yours in case of need when things 
looked doubtful. That Europe had to be thankful 
to you that you so quickly had perceived the great 
future for Russia in the cultivation of Asia and in 
the Defense of the Cross and the old Christian 
European culture against the inroads of the Mon- 
gols and Buddhism, that it was natural that if Russia 
was engaged in this tremendous work you wished 
to have Europe quiet and your back free; and that 
it was natural and without doubt that this would be 
my task and that I would let nobody try to inter- 
fere with you and attack from behind in Europe 
during the time you were fullfilling the great mission 
which Heaven has shaped for you. That was as 
sure as Amen in Church ! One incident took place ^ 
of which I think I ought to tell you as I am quite 
certain that it happened without Alexei's knowledge, 
but having become known among our officers created 
a very painful impression. On board the Grossias- 
chtschy — the vessel which / invited Admiral Skry- 
dlow^ and his Captains to pass the Canal with — two 
Engineer Officers were secretly embarked which had 
not been announced to our Authorities. The Eldest 
was Colon. Bubnow. These in conjuncLion with a 
lieutenant who is specially trained for the purpose 
and who had a large apparatus took photographs 
of our Forts and batteries made notes and sketches 
all along the road and finally — when Skrydlow saw 
that my Naval Attache was rather astonished to see 

[13] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

quite strange people on the ship — were introduced 
to him as two directors of waterworks and water- 
ways ! At Kiel Bubnow's bearing became so "sus- 
pecte" that Police and Gendarmes followed him. 
He went about in plain clothes and was prowling 
about the fortifications, which was strictly forbidden 
to strangers ! 

Now I think this is not quite fair, if you are in- 
vited as guest at such a fete in a foreign country 
which without reserve throws open its gates to you 
and lets you into its war harbour, to abuse of hos- 
pitality in this manner, to try to spy out your friend 
and that even under assumed character ! The con- 
sequence is that this will make people very careful 
with Russian warships and creates uneasy feelings 
which I so deplore and hope to overcome. Pray 
excuse my mentioning this matter, but I thought it 
better to tell you directly instead of making diplo- 
matic notes etc. as you know how I feel for you and 
Russia. But I do wish to have every difficulty which 
could arise in the work of drawing our countries 
closer together, removed before it strikes root. 

Goodbye dearest Nicky my best love to Alix and 
to you, with wishes for a quiet summer and a nice 
little boy to come believe me dear Nicky 

Ever your most affectionate 

friend and cousin 

Willy 

[14] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Gzar 



NOTES 

1. The "Imperator Alexander II." and the "Rurik." 

2. Grand Duke Alexei, an uncle of the Czar, was for many years 
the Commander in Chief of the Russian Navy. 

3. Commander of the Russian Squadron at Kiel. Later Skrydlow 
became Chief of the Russian Admiralty. 



[15] 



VI 

Jagdhaus Rominten^ 26/ix 95. 

Dearest Nicky 

My Uncle the Chancellor^ referring to the kind 
and sympathetic way with which you received him, 
has owned himself quite won by your manner, and 
was profoundly impressed by your knowledge about 
the political situation and the quiet and calm manner 
with which you judged the questions of interest. He 
also told me that you expressed a wish that I should 
continue the custom, which we have begun, of writ- 
ing to you if I thought there was occasion for it, I 
do this with pleasure. The situation in the Far East 
has given you the opportunity of discussing it with 
my uncle. I thank you for the way in which you 
kindly alluded to my cooperation with Russia and 
the coaling station question. The development of 
the Far East, especially its danger to Europe and our 
Christian Faith Is a matter which has been greatly 
on my mind ever since we made our first move to- 
gether in Spring. At last my thoughts developed 
into a certam form and this I sketched on paper. I 
worked it out with an Artist^ — a first class draughts- 
man — and after it was finished had it engraved for 

[16] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 



public use. It shows the Powers of Europe repre- 
sented by their respective Genii called together by 
the Arch-Angel Michael, — sent from Heaven, — to 
unite in resisting the inroad of Buddhism, heathen- 
ism and barbarism for the Defence of the Cross. 
Stress is especially laid on the united resistance of 
all European Powers, which is just as necessary also 
against our common internal foes, anarchism, repub- 
licanism, nihiHsm. I venture to send you an engrav- 
ing begging you to accept it as a token of my warm 
and sincere friendship to you and Russia. In the 
midst of these peaceful occupations and of the quiet 
hunting fell the astounding news I got from Paris 
that the French Chamber's Budget Committee* in 
discussing the Military Budget propose to recall the 
XIX Corps (Algiers and Tunis) and to form a new 
continental Corps on my Western Frontier! This, 
recall has only been done once before in 1870 when 
France made war on us, such a project in the deepest 
times of Peace, has fallen like a thunderbolt on 
Germany and has created a deep feeling of alarm. 
This has been deepened by the fact that the proposal 
became publicly known the Moment after Prince 
Lobanoff^ and Gen. Dragomiroff had officially as- 
sisted the Review of the French "Border Army" on 
the Lorraine Frontier amidst the frenetic enthus- 
iasm of the "Border People." This Army which 
the French Papers are telling us since weeks is meant 
for the first rush on our "Border Land" is the Re- 
vanche War I It is already 4 Corps strong against 

[17] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

my 2 (XV, XVI). The proposed new Corps would 
increase the allready overwhelming French forces to 
5 Corps, and constitutes a threat as well as a serious 
danger to my country. Of course upon this I must 
now began to take matters seriously. For this event 
happening in the moment your officers are being 
decorated and Lobanoff feted, whilst my attache's 
ears were greeted with not over agreeable remarks, 
has made people uneasy here and given affairs an 
ugly look, as if Russia would like France to be of- 
fensive against Germany with the hopes of help 
from the first named. Such a serious danger will 
cause me to strongly increase my army, to be able to 
cope with such fearful odds. Heavy as the financial 
strain would weigh on us, my People would never 
waver a moment to guarantee their security should 
this be necessary. I perfectly know that you per- 
sonally do not dream of attacking us, but still you 
cannot be astonished that the European Powers get 
alarmed seeing how the presence of your officers and 
high officials in official way in France fans the in- 
flamable Frenchmen into a white heated passion and 
strengthens the cause of Chauvinism and Revanche ! 
God knows that I have done all in my power to 
preserve the European Peace, but if France goes on 
openly or secretly encouraged like this to violate all 
rules of international courtesy and Peace in peace- 
times, one fine day my dearest Nicky you will find 
yourself nolens volens suddenly embroiled in the 
most horrible of wars Europe ever saw! Which 

[i8] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

will by the masses and by history perhaps be fixed 
on you as the cause of it. Pray don't be angry, if I 
perhaps hurt you quite unintentiously, but I think 
it my duty to our two countries and to you as my 
friend to write openly. As the seclusion and retire- 
ment the deep mourning has imposed upon you, de- 
bars you from seeing people and following in detail 
what is happening — behind the scenes. 

I have some experience of Politics, and see cer- 
tain unmistakable symptoms, so I hasten to you, my 
friend, to plead in the name of the Peace of Europe; 
if you are allied "for better, for worse" with the 
French, well then, keep those damned rascals in 
order and make them sit still, if not then dont let 
your Men who go to France make the French be- 
lieve that you are allied and get reckless and turn 
their heads till they lose them, and we have to fight 
in Europe instead for it against the East ! Think 
of the awful responsibility for the shocking blood- 
shed! Now Goodbye dearest Nicky, best love to 
dear Alix and believe me Ever your most devoted 
and faithful 

friend and Cousin 

Willy 

I. R.« 



NOTES 

I. In East Prussia, near the Russian frontier, where the Kaiser 
had a shooting box. 

[19] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

2. Prince von Hohenlohe, who succeeded Caprivi on October 
29th, 1894. He had come to Petrograd on September loth. 

3. The artist was Professor Knackfuss of Cassel. 

4. The Committee was at this time considering the formation of 
a Colonial Army. 

5. Minister for Foreign Affairs, who was sent together with 
Dragomiroff by the Czar to the French Army maneuvers in 
the neighborhood of Mirecourt in September, 1895. 

6. Imperator Rex. 



[20] 



VII 

Neues Palais Potsdam 25/X/95. 
Dearest Nicky 

Uncle Mlcha's^ most joyful and unexpected arrival 
who just lunched with us, gives me an agreeable op- 
portunity to warmly thank you for your kind letter 
Moltke brought home. He is still quite full of all 
your kindness and quite enraptured by your whole 
person and your ways. Your ideas about the press 
in general are exactly the same as mine, it has done 
and still continues to do a deal of harm and we must 
bear with a great amount of spite, lying and non- 
sense. Still the influence it horribile dictu has must 
be judged from the spirit of the People of the differ- 
ent races are brought up and read it. Your subjects 
and mine are slower at thought, sober and quieter 
In their conclusions they draw as for instance South- 
erners or the French. The Roman or Gallic races 
are more easily roused, incensed and more ready to 
jump to conclusions, and once having flared up are 
more dangerous to peace than the Teutonic or Rus- 
sian Race. Again in England the Press is more the 
mouthpiece of Public opinion than on the Continent 
and goes in more for the interests of its Country! 

[21] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

Lobanows visit- was most interesting to me, he is 
no doubt a very able Diplomatist and a splendid 
causeur, and what he told me was "sehr beruhi- 
gend"^ about France. I thought it right to talk 
quite openly about France with him as he told me 
you had communicated with him. In one respect I 
took pains to show him that I did not wish to be mis- 
understood. That it is not a fact of the "Rapport" 
or friendship between Russia and France that makes 
one uneasy — every Sovereign is sole master of his 
countrie's interests and he shapes his policy accord- 
ingly — but the danger which is brought to our Prin- 
ciple of Monarchism through the lifting up the Re- 
public on a piedestal by the form under which the 
friendship is shown. The constant appearance of 
Princes, Granddukes, statesmen, generals in "full 
fig" at reviews, burials, dinners, races with the head 
of the Republic or in his entourage makes Repub- 
licains — as such — believe that they are quite honest 
excellent people, with whom Princes can consort and 
feel at home ! Now what is the consequence at 
home in our different countries were the Republi- 
cans are Revolutionists de natura and treated — 
rightly too — as people who must be shot or hung, 
they tell our other loyal subjects: "Oh we are no 
dangerous bad men, look at France ! There you 
see the Royalties hobnobbing with the Revolution- 
airesl Why should it not be the same with us?" 
The R.F.^ is from the source of the great Revolu- 
tion and propagates and is bound to do so, the ideas 

[22] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

of it. Don't forget that Faure — not his personal 
fault — sits on the throne of the King and Queen of 
France "by the Grace of God" whose heads French- 
men Republicans cut off ! The Blood of their Majes- 
ties is still on that country! Look at it, has it since 
then ever been happy or quiet again? Has it not 
staggered from bloodshed to bloodshed? And in 
its great moments did it not go from war to war? 
till it soused all Europe and Russia in streams of 
blood? Till at last it had the Commune over again? 
Nicky take my word on it the curse of God has 
stricken that People for ever ! We Christian Kings 
and Emperors have one holy duty imposed on us 
by Heaven, that is to uphold the Principle "von 
Gottes Gnaden"^ we can have good relations with 
the R. F. but never be intime with her! I always 
fear that in frequent and long visits in France people 
without feeling it imbibe Republican ideas. Here 
I must tell you an example ! I remember a few 
years ago a gentleman — no German — telling me full 
of horror that when he was at a fashionable salon in 
Paris he heard a Russian General answer a French 
ones question wether Russia would smash the Ger- 
man Army, answer ^'Oh nous serons hattu a plate 
couture^ mais quesque qa fait? Nous aurons alors 
\a\ussi la Repuhlique'' I^ That is what I am afraid 
of for you my dear Nicky! Dont forget Skobelew'^ 
and his plan for carrying off the Imperial family at 
a dinner once? Therefore take care that your Gen- 
erals dont like the R. F. too much. Please forgive 

[23] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

my beeing so open but I want you to see how warmly 
I feel for you and how anxious I am about you, and 
that you should fully know what my motives are. 
The next point of interest was the news Lobanow 
told me about Turky; that he had cause to suspect 
England was after the Dardanells! And therefore 
had revived the Armenian question.^ I confess that 
I was utterly stupefied at this piece of news. No 
doubt since Salisbury's avenement England's foreign 
policy has become most mysterious and unintelligible, 
and the quaint way in which the Fleet sulks around 
the Dardanells indicates that it means something 
there. But if they do that they violate the Treaty 
of Berlin and this they cannot be allowed to do with- 
out the permission of all the other signatory Pow- 
ers; which they never will do. But it seems that 
they have some Idea or other of changing their Pol- 
icy In the Mediterranean, for two days ago Malet^ 
on paying his farewell visit to our Foreign Office 
used very blustering words, about Germany behav- 
ing badly to England in Africa, ^^ that it would not 
stand it any longer and that after bying off the 
French by concessions in Egypt they were at liberty 
to look after us. He even was so undiplomatic to 
utter the word "war." Saying that even England 
would not shrink from making war upon me If we 
did not knock down in Africa. I have made an 
answer to the effect that the British were making 
themselves ridiculous in this case, but obnoxious to 
everybody, and If they got into trouble with any- 

[24] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

body else I would not move a Pomeranian Grena- 
dier^^ to help them. I suppose that will cool them. 
It is the same thing I told Lobanow. I told him 
besides that if Russia should be seriously engaged in 
the Far East I looked upon it as my duty to keep 
your back free from anybody in Europe and to see 
that all kept quiet, and that nothing would happen 
from me also to France, provided I was not at- 
tacked. He warmly thanked me for this. I share 
his fear that Japan has some sort of understanding 
with England and that is why it is so stiffbacked. 

Before concluding let me express my most heart- 
felt sympathy for the I of November^^ now ap- 
proaching. God alone can soothen the pangs of 
sorrow that will rend your hart on mourning such 
a kind father and such an excellent and good man, 
so like my poor Papa ! May I propose something 
to you which I have at heart? Considering our near 
relations and the constant exchange of letters and 
messages, which would unecessarily always put the 
Embassy machines in motion, would not you like 
to renew the old custom our Forefathers had for 
nearly a century and have again a personal aide de 
camp attached to our respective staffs? The more 
private and *'intime" affairs could as in olden times 
go directly by them, which makes matters much 
simpler? I shall take with pleasure anybody whom 
you really trust into my Maison miHtaire, would you 
like Moltke? Now I shant trouble you any longer! 

[25] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

Goodbye dearest Nicky, my best love to Alix and 
the "future," and believe me allways 

Your most devoted and aff-ate 

friend and cousin 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. Grand Duke Michael. 

2. Lobanow or Lobanoff, the Russian Foreign Minister. He vis- 
ited the Kaiser at Hubertusstock on October 13th, 1895. 

3. Very reassuring. 

4. Republique Frangaise. 

5. By the grace of God. 

6. Oh, we will be smashed to pieces, but what does that matter? 
We will then also have a republic. 

7. The famous Russian General who before his sudden death in 
1882 was reported to be the author of a plot to arrest the Czar 
and proclaim a constitution. 

8. Frightful Armenian massacres occurred in 1895. 

9. Sir Edward Malet, British ambassador at Berlin, had a special 
audience with the Kaiser on October 21st in order to present 
his letters of recall after eleven years in Berlin. 

10. At this time it was believed that German agents were trying 
to obtain a footing in Matabeleland. Another source of fric- 
tion was Germany's persistence in maintaining direct relations 
with the Transvaal. 

11. This is a reference to Bismarck's declaration that the Eastern 
Question, so far as Germany was concerned, was not worth 
"the sound bones of a single Pomeranian Grenadier." 

12. The anniversary of the death of Czar Alexander III. 



[26] 



VIII 

Neues Palais 2/1/96. 
Dearest Nicky 

Radolln's return to Petersburg gives me the op- 
portunity of sending you a few lines. Please let 
me thank you most sincerely for the many signs of 
kindness and friendship you have given me and my 
country, which has given a sense of quitness and 
security, and which I beg you will continue to bestow 
on us in the following year. 

With my warmest congratulations for the New 
Year and a merry Xmas I join my prayers that the 
Lord may bless and protect you, dear Alix, your 
sweet child^ and all your family from all Evil, sor- 
row or sickness. May your reign be prosperous and 
may you see the realisation of many a scheme you 
have elaborated for the welfare of your subjects. 
May our countries be able as before to join in the 
strengthening and upholding of Peace and in the 
defence of their faith and interests against any out- 
ward or inward foe. 

The political horizon is peculiar just now. Ar- 
menian and Venezuela^ are open questions England 
brought up, and now suddenly the Transval Repub- 

[27] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

lic^ has been attacked in a most foul way as it seems 
without Englands knowledge. I have used very se- 
vere language in London, and have opened communi- 
cations with Paris for common defence of our en- 
dangered interests, as French and German colonists 
have immediately joined hands of their own accords 
to help the outraged boers. I hope you will also 
kindly consider the question, as it is one of principle 
of upholding treaties once concluded. I hope that 
all will come right but come what may I never shall 
allow the British to stamp out the Transvaal! I 
hope you have better news for your poor brother* 
who has arrived as I see at the Riviera ! 

Please give my best love to dear Alix and once 
more thanking you for all kindness to Strantz and 
his men believe me dear Nicky 

Ever 
Your most aff-ate cousin and friend 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. Grand Duchess Olga, born November 3rd, 1895. 

2. In October, 1895, Great Britain presented an ultimatum to the 
Venezuelan Government in the Guiana-Venezuela dispute. 
Diplomatic relations between Great Britain and Venezuela 
were suspended in 1887 and not restored until 1897. 

3. The Jameson Raid began on December 29th, 1895, and ended 
with the unconditional surrender of the raiders on January 
2nd, 1896, the day this letter was written to the Czar. At 
the same time the Kaiser sent his famous telegram to Presi- 

[28] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 



dent Kriiger, which read as follows: "I express my sincere 
congratulations that, supported by your people and without 
appealing for the help of friendly Powers, you have succeeded 
by your own energetic action against armed bands which in- 
vaded your country as disturbers of the peace, and have thus 
been able to restore peace and safeguard the independence of 
the country against attacks from outside.— William." 
Grand Duke George, the second son of Alexander III., who 
was suffering from consumption and who died in the Crimea 
in 1899. 



[29] 



IX 

Berlin 20/11 96 
Dearest Nicky 

General Werder has the great pleasure and hon- 
our to be your guest and so I entrust this letter to 
his care. Let me once more thank you with all my 
heart for the picture and the letter you sent me for 
my birthday.^ The attention was most kind and 
gracious at the same time, as the opening of the 
Canal was indeed something which I had very much 
at heart and which really was a success. I have sent 
the picture to Kiel where It Is to be hung in my pri- 
vate apartments, the same In which your dear la- 
mented father lived the last time he met me at Kiel. 
Werder will also be the bearer of two photographs. 
One for you, as a little souvenir of mine and one 
for Allx, to give her an Idea of what my girP looks 
like. She Is a real piece of living quicksilver and 
tyrannises her papa tremendously. 

Your Embassy has enquired about my beeing rep- 
resented at the Coronation^ at Moskau and I have 
named Henry as my representant. I should be very 
thankful If you would kindly see that the question 
of his rank is made out clearly, as I heard that your 

[30] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

Master of Ceremonies has hinted to Radolln that 
he would have to follow all the Hereditary German 
Granddukes and Princes, even the son of the Prince 
of Montenegro. This Is of course out of the ques- 
tion. My house as the reigning one In Germany- 
is the first, and the Princes belonging to It go be- 
fore the sons of the Reigning Princes in Germany. 
I asked Wladlmir* about this when he was here, and 
he was of quite the same opinion, and told me he 
would mention the matter to you. Besides he is your 
brother in law,^ and as such he counts as one of your 
family, just as your Papa did for the Duke of Edln- 
bourgh^ at his coronation. 

I saw Aunt Sanny^ at Oldenburg and on her pass- 
age here. She is very much affected by the slow and 
harrassing death of her poor sister, and suffers 
much from sleeplessness, poor thing! 

The Blue Book^ In Parliament in London has once 
more proved how right your policy was in Oriental 
matters and how England has tried to get you and 
us others into trouble. In Transvaal their Coup de 
Bourse was miscarried by the will of Providence, 
and though some lives were lost, yet revolution, 
bloodshed and general pillage have been stopped. 
They have behaved very Improperly to me, but that 
leaves me untouched, whereas their mobilising their 
celebrated Flying Squadron^ against us, who have 
hardly anything to speak of, made them supremely 
ridiculous. 

[31] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

Now good by dearest Nicky, best love to Alix, 
and believe me 

Ever 
Your most devoted Cousin and friend 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. On the Kaiser's birthday, January 27th, the Russian ambassador 
in Berlin, Count Osten-Sacken, presented him with an auto- 
graph letter from the Czar and an oil painting representing 
Kiel Harbor at the moment of the opening of the Canal. The 
German Imperial yacht "Hohenzollern" was shown passing the 
Russian flagship "Alexander II." 

2. The Kaiser's youngest child. Princess Victoria Louise, born 
September 13th, 1892, and married to Prince Ernest Augustus, 
Duke of Brunswick, in 1913. 

3. The Czar was crowned on May 26th, 1896. 

4. Grand Duke W^ladimir, the Czar's uncle. 

5. Prince Henry of Prussia married Princess Irene of Hesse, 
elder sister of the Czarina. 

6. When the Czar Alexander III. was crowned on May 27th, 
1883, the Duke of Edinburgh, who had married the Grand 
Duchess Marie Alexandrovna, the Czar's sister, followed im- 
mediately after the members of the Imperial family. 

7. Grand Duchess Alexandra Josefovna, Princess of Saxe-Alten- 
borg, married to the Grand Duke Constantine Nicholaevitch. 

8. A Blue Book on the Armenian question was issued in London 
on February 17th, 1896. A Blue Book on the Transvaal was 
issued on February 12th. 

9. The squadron, commissioned on January 9th, 1896, consisted 
of two first-class battleships, two first-class cruisers, and two 
second-class cruisers. 



[32] 



X 

COBURG I9/IV 96. 

Dearest Nicky 

The merry wedding^ which is taking place here 
and the faces of many of the guests remind me of 
two years ago when it was my good fortune to be 
able to help you to secure that charming and accom- 
plished angel who is now Yours wife. The reminis- 
caises of april 1894^ were also felt by the others 
and from that cause they all agreed that we should 
send You the telegram You will have got. I venture 
to trust that I did not say or promise then anything 
that You have not afterwards found in Your matri- 
monial life. May Gods blessing be on You both 
especially in the next month when You are going 
to be crowned under the admiring assisstance of the 
world. I thank You most heartily for Yours kind 
letter You sent me through Werder the day I left 
for the Mediterranean, he was so happy over his 
stay in Petersburg, having seen so many well known 
faces. I quite agree with what You say in the end 
of Yours letter about the Britishers, there fanfar- 
ronades against us make them supremly ridiculous, 
and no impression on me. The worse they are ham- 

[33] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

pered in Afrika, the better for us In Asia. Now- 
good bye dear Nicky, best love to Allx and Godspeed 
from your aff-ate cousin and friend 

Willy 



NOTES 

That of Princess Alexandra of Coburg to the Hereditary 

Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. 

April 1895. — The engagement of the Czar, then Czarevitch, to 

Princess Alix of Hesse took place at Coburg in April, 1894, 

where she and the Czarevitch were staying for the wedding of 

Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and the Grand Duke of 

Hesse. 



[34] 



XI 

Letzlingen 12/xi 96. 



Dearest Nicky 



Wladlmlr^ Is so kind as to take this lines with 
him to hand them over to you and will also be the 
bearer of my warmest "Grusse."^ I am glad 
you are safe home again and that the brilliant tour^ 
you made through Europe has not tired you too 
much. 

I am deeply sorry for the awful Bismarklan be- 
haviour* which — though It Is a "coup" solely aimed 
against me personally — nevertheless represents a 
breach of loyalty to your Government, and casts a 
slur on the memories of my beloved grandfather as 
well as on that of your beloved father. I have all- 
ready Instructed my uncle the Chancellor how to 
speak In Parliament^ and hope you will be satisfied 
with the manner in which the whole treasonable af- 
fair is treated. I suppose that by this last stroke 
of the Prince and by the shameless way he Is treating 
me In his press — especially trying to make the people 
believe that I was and still am under ''En^lish'^ in- 
fluence — the clearer heads will begin to understand 
that I had reasons to send this unruly man with his 
mean caracter out of office. I place Implicit faith 

[35] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

in the hopes that you will kindly trust me as you did 
till now and that nothing has or can change between 
us two since we arranged our line of action at Bres- 
lau.® Wladimir has come from Paris with the best 
of impression that all is quiet there, which I can 
corroborate from the reports of my ambassador"^ 
who is on the best of terms with the Government 
and is quite full of admiration for the capabilities 
and sang froid of Hanotaux.^ The latter I hear is 
rather nervous about Turky, but as I have heard 
nothing alarming from there I suppose there is no 
real cause, he, I hear, is strongly opposed to any 
conference about Turky and in that is perfectly 
right. 

On our frontier in Lithuania we have discovered 
and lokaHsed several cases of leprosy. Some people 
have brought the infection over from the next places 
in the Baltic Provinces. I consequently have ordered 
a hospital to be built at Memel to place the poor 
wretches in it. The illness is a terrible one, and 
very catching, and I propose to you wether our 
frontier Provincial authorities could not combine in 
watching and looking for cases, by combining some 
Doctors for medicine supervision? 

We have had magnificent sport and fine weather 
and were very glad to see Wladimir here in his old 
place. With best love to Alix 

Your affectionnate 

friend and cousin 

[36] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 



NOTES 

1. A dinner was given in honor of the Grand Duke Wladimir at 
the New Palace, Potsdam, on November nth. On the follow- 
ing day the Grand Duke accompanied the Kaiser on a shoot- 
ing expedition to Letzlingen where this letter was written. 

2. Greetings. 

3. The Czar and Czarina had visited Austria, Germany, Den- 
mark, England and France, returning to Petrograd on October 
31st, 1896. The Czar met the Kaiser at Breslau on September 
5th and again on his return journey at Wiesbaden on Octo- 
ber 29th. 

4. Bismarck was at the time asserting in his press that under his 
guidance the relations between Russia and Germany were 
friendly and that his successors were responsible for the de- 
terioration of these relations. 

5. The debate on the Secret Reinsurance Treaty took place in 
the Reichstag on November i6th, four days after this letter 
was written. The Chancellor, Prince Hohenlohe, took refuge 
behind the pledge of absolute secrecy given with regard to 
the Russo-German negotiations between 1887 and 1890, until 
which year there was an understanding between the two 
Powers that if one of them were attacked the other would 
preserve a benevolent neutrality. The Chancellor expressed 
the conviction that since 1890 when the secret treaty was said 
to have lapsed there had been no unfavorable modification in 
Russo-German relations. 

6. It was believed at the time of the Breslau meeting that the 
Kaiser and Czar had reached complete accord concerning the 
Eastern Question and decided to maintain the status quo in 
Turkey. 

7. Count von Miinster-Ledenburg, German ambassador in Paris 
since 1885. 

8. Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Meline Cabinet. 



[37] 



XII 

Berlin 3/111 97 

My dear Nicky 

As you kindly permitted, Col. v. Moltke will in 
a few days have the great honour to be able to pay 
his respects to his Imperial chef. This gives me the 
opportunity of sending you a few lines of warm 
friendship in these trying times. I am most deeply 
grateful for the loyal, clear and statesmanlike way 
In which you grasped this most unfortunate Cretan 
affair,^ and feel justly proud that our views on this 
subject are exactly alike. From the "Family"^ point 
of view you must have gone through moments which 
may have taxed your affections to the utmost, and 
the resolve to do as you did must have been come 
to after many an Internal pang. But you are per- 
fectly right! And you see by the result that your 
"demarche" has rallied all the Powers, willingly or 
not, to a common demonstration, which will I hope, 
make the Peace of Europe an undisturbed one. You 
have shown the world once more that if the 3 great 
Empires "marchent d'accord" and are joined by the 
other great Continental Powers, I.e., If the whole 
Continent keeps together in an unbroken front, the 

[38] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

rest of the world must follow us, even the strongest! 
The King of Greece must be clean mad If he does 
not stop in his mad attempt to set the world on fire 
*'pour y allumer sa pipe."^ I am glad the Turks be- 
haved so soberly and place strong troops Into 
Macedonia ! there lies the greatest danger and that 
must be kept quiet by all means. 

I send you with Moltke some Instant photographs 
taken of the Parade after your cravats had been 
fastened to the colours of the Alexander Regiment. 
He is also to place Into your hands the work which 
has been written about my dear Grandfather* and 
which is published for the Centenary of his birth- 
day. His fine letters and speeches are the best char- 
acteristic of him I know. Our balP went off very 
well and the effect was simply magical, like a dream 
of old days gone past ! 

The cravats which I am going to present my Gren- 
adiers are finished and I should be very thankful for 
a hint from you wether I can present them myself, 
or wether you think It better to send our officers 
with them. Now best love to Allx who I hope will 
be soon allright and believe me 

Ever your most aff-ate cousin and friend 

Willy 



NOTES 
This letter was written before the outbreak of war between 
Greece and Turkey. Greece landed troops in Crete and the 

[39] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

Powers demanded their recall. Russia and Germany were 
particularly against Greece's aggression. 

2. King George of Greece married the Grand Duchess Olga 
Constantinovna, the second daughter of the Grand Duke Con- 
stantine, the Czar's great-uncle. 

3. To light his pipe. 

4. Probably "The Military Documents of His Majesty Emperor 
William the Great," published under the auspices of the Ger- 
man war office on March 21st. 

5. A fancy dress ball was given by the Emperor on February 
27th, all guests being required to wear costumes of the year 
1797. The Kaiser appeared in the uniform of a colonel of 
the ist Guards Regiment of that period. 



[40] 



XIII 

Neues Palais 4/1 1898. 
Dearest Niky 

The new year has just opened and the old year 
has closed. But I cannot let it close without a glance 
at those lovely and brilliant days of August,^ when 
I was able to embrace you and Allx, and without 
thanking you for your kind, splendid even lavish 
hospitality to Victoria and me. With deep feelings 
of gratitude do I remember the pleasant hours I was 
able to spend with you, exchanging Intercourse show- 
ing that we were of one opinion In the principles we 
follow In the fulllillment of the task, which has been 
set us by the Lord of all Lords. Each of us tries 
to do his best for his country's development and well- 
fare as Is his duty ! But In community we seek to 
procure to our countries the blessings of Peace ! 

May this New Year be a happy one for you dear 
Allx and the whole of your house and country. May 
the plans, which you mature be fullfilled for the well- 
fare of your people. Henry's mission^ is one of the 
steps I have taken for the help and countenance of 
your lofty Ideals — without which no sovereign can 
exist — in promoting civilisation I. e. Christianity in 

[41] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

the Far East! Will you kindly accept a drawing I 
have sketched for you, showing the Symbolising 
figures of Russia and Germany as sentinels at the 
Yellow Sea for the proclaiming of the Gospel of 
Truth and Light in the East. I drew the sketch in 
the Xmas week under the blaze of the lights of the 
Xmas trees! — 

Also an album of photographs representing the 
review on your birthday^ at Wiesbaden before the 
new Standard of your Hussar Regiment and the 
Swearing in of the Recruits of your fine Alexander 
Regiment as well as a scene from its barrack-ground. 
A book of memoirs of the father on my Chief of 
the Horse Count Wedel will follow shortly as the 
binding is not quite finished yet. He served under 
Napoleon I in 1812 in Russia, was made prisoner 
by your troops and makes very interesting descrip- 
tion of the campaign and of his captivity. — Victoria* 
send her best wishes, she was in bed for a long time 
and suffered much from nerves and a bad throat 
and only got up today for the first time. She had 
much worry on account of the two youngest ones^ 
who suffered from a bad attack of influenza which is 
raging here, and were laid up for nearly a month. 

Now good bye dearest Nicky best love to Alix and 
my most respectful compliments to your dear mama 
from Your most 

devoted and faithful friend and cousin 

Willy 

[42] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Cza\ 



NOTES 

1. The Kaiser and Kaiserin visited Petrograd, August 7-13, 1897. 

2. This mission was defined on December 16 by Prince Henry 
of Prussia at a banquet at Kiel just before he left in his 
flagship the "Deutschland" in command of the German squad- 
ron for China. In his speech Prince Henry said: "I am only 
animated by one desire, to proclaim and preach abroad to all 
who will hear as well as those who will not the Gospel of 
Your Majesty's Sacred Person." 

3. May 6th. 

4. The Kaiserin had been suffering from a diphtheritic indis- 
position. 

5. Princess Victoria Louise and Prince Joachim. 



[43] 



XIV 

Berlin 28/111 98. 
Dearest Nicky 

General von Werder brought me your and Allx'es 
kind messages from Petersburg and was beaming 
with delight at the souvenirs of his stay which as 
usual you managed to render so nice and agreeable 
to him. I thank you most sincerely for all he trans- 
mitted to me from you, and need not add that I 
heartily reciprocate your wishes. The dear old Gen- 
eral is not only a relic of the past, but firmly and by 
conviction deeply attached to you and your house; 
and he therefore is in my eyes a living piece of the 
old tradition which allways united our families for 
the benefit of our countries and by that for the whole 
world. 

I must congratulate you most heartily at the suc- 
cessful issue of your action at Port Arthur ;^ we two 
will make a good pair of sentinels at the entrance 
of the gulf of Petchili, who will be duly respected 
especially by the Yellow Ones ! I think the way you 
managed to soothe the feelings of the "fretful Japs" 
by the masterly arrangement at Korea^ a remark- 
ably fine piece of diplomacy and a great show of 

[44] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

foresight; which Is apt to show what a boon it was 
that by your great journey,^ you were able to study 
the Question of the Far East locally and are now 
morally speaking the Master of Peking! 

Radolin reported to me your very interesting con- 
versation about China and your wishes about the 
Instructors in the Governments assumed as under 
the Russian sphere of Influence. I have prepared an 
order to the German officers, but could not yet ema- 
nate It because it was impossible to fix a certain limit 
of territory without an Indication on the map — A 
small pencil line on any piece of paper from you 
would, put my mind to rest ; because I would be most 
unhappy if by any misunderstanding the Oflicers, 
without their fault, trepassed on Russian territory 
from want of a real well recognized boundary line. 
The Idea which was beginning to be ventilated from 
over the Channel in the Press that Chinese affairs 
were to be decided by an International Conference 
has been sharply repudiated here by me, for the rea- 
son that I soon found that it was a masked attempt 
to tie your hands in the Far East, the relations to 
whom I think are after all your own affair and not 
other peoples ! The news from Henry are good, 
he is at Hongkong refitting his ship.' He made good 
friends with Salssoy Weliky and Navarin* at Co- 
lomho and they sailed together In perfect harmony 
for some days to the great astonishment of other 
people ! Ahem ! Which amuses me much as at the 
same time it gives me pleasure as Russian Admiral. 

[45] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

Colonel V. Moltke my Alde-de-Camp and Comman- 
der of your "Alexanderlner" is the bearer of this 
letter and at the same time of a box with two hunt- 
ing rifles of small bore calibre of exceedingly good 
hitting qualities and a most stretched trajectory — I 
hope they will be of good use to you and enable you 
to kill many a good "Capital Hirsch." Now good 
by dearest Nicky best love to Alix and Weidmann- 
sheil from 

Ever Your most aff-ate and devoted friend 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. Russian warships arrived at Port Arthur "to pass the winter" 
on December i8th, 1897. 

2. A treaty was signed between Russia and Japan on February 
24th, 1897, for the maintenance of the independence of Korea 
under their military protection. On March i8th, 1898, Russia 
announced that she would abstain for the future from taking 
any active part in Korean affairs. 

3. Reference to the Czar's tour which he made as Czarevitch in 
1891. He visited China and Japan in April and May of 
that year. 

4. Russian warships sent to reenforce the Russian Pacific squadron. 



[46] 



XV 

Berlin 30/v 98 
Private & very confidential 

Dearest Nicky 

With a suddenness wholly unexpected to me am I 
placed before a grave decision which is of vital im- 
portance to my country, and which is so far reach- 
ing that I cannot foresee the ultimate consequences. 
The traditions in which I was reared by my beloved 
Grandfather of blessed memory as regards our two 
houses and countries, have as you will own allways 
been kept up by me as a holy bequest from him, and 
my loyalty to you and your family is, I flatter my- 
self, above any suspicion. I therefore come to you 
as my friend and "confident" to lay the affairs be- 
fore you as one who expects a frank and loyal an- 
swer to a frank and loyal question. 

In the beginning of April the attacks on my coun- 
try and person, till then showered on us by the Brit- 
ish Press and people, suddenly fell off, and there 
was, as you will have perceived a momentary lull. 
This rather astonished us at home and we were at 
loss for an explanation. In a private inquiry I found 
out that H. M. the Queen herself through a friend 

[47] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

of hers had sent word to the British Papers, that 
she wished this unnoble and false game to cease. 
This In the Land of the *'Free Press'' ! Such an un- 
wonted step naturally led us to the conclusion that 
something was In the air. About Easter a Cele- 
brated Politician^ propriomotu suddenly sent for my 
Ambassador and a brule pour poinf offered him a 
treaty of Alliance with England!^ Count Hatzfeld* 
utterly astonished said he could not quite make out 
how that could be after all that had passed between 
us since '95? The answer was that the offer was 
made in real earnest and was sincerely ment. My 
Ambassador said he would report, but that he 
doubted very much wether Parliament would ever 
ratify such a treaty, England till now allways hav- 
ing made clear to anybody who wished to hear it, 
that It never by any means would make an Alliance 
with any Continental Power whoever it may be I 
Because it wished to keep Its liberty of action. In 
1897 (Jubilee Year) this Principle was even put 
into verse, saying that England needed no Allies, 
that le cas echeant it could fight the whole world 
alone, with the refrain: "We've got the ships, we've 
got the men, we've got the money too" ! — The An- 
swer was that the prospect had completely changed 
and that this offer was the consequence. After 
Easter the request was urgently renewed but by my 
commands cooly and dilatorily answered In a col- 
ourless manner. I thought the affair had ended. 
Now however the Request has been renewed for 

[48] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

the third time In such an unmistakable manner put- 
ting a certain short term to my definite answer and 
accompanied by such enormous offers showing a 
wide and great future opening for my country that 
I think It my duty to Germany duly to reflect before 
I answer. Now before I do it I frankly and openly 
come to you my esteemed friend and cousin to In- 
form you, as I feel that It Is a question so to say of 
life and death. We two have the same opinions, 
we want peace, and we have sustained and upheld it 
till now! What the tendence of the Alliance Is, you 
will well understand, as I am informed that the 
Alliance Is to be with the Triple Alliance and with 
the addition of Japan and America with whom pour- 
parlers have allready been opened! What the 
chances are for us In refusing or accepting you may 
calculate yourself! Now as my old and trusted 
friend I beg you to tell me what you can offer me 
and will do If I refuse? Before I take my final de- 
cision and send my answer, in this difficult position 
I must be able to see clearly, and clear and open 
without any backthoughts must your proposal be, so 
that I can judge and weigh in my mind and before 
God, as I should, what is for the good of the Peace 
of my fatherland and of the world. You need not 
fear for your Ally In any Proposal you make should 
she be placed In a combination wished by you. With 
this letter dearest Nicky I place my whole faith in 
your silence and discretion to everybody , and write 
as in old times my Grandfather would have written 

[49] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

to your Grandfather Nicholas I !^ May God help 
you to find the right solution and decision ! It Is for 
the next generation I But time Is pressing so please 
answer soon! 

Your devoted friend 

Willy 

P.S. Should you like to meet me anywhere to ar- 
range by mouth I am ready every moment at sea 
or on land to meet ! 



NOTES 

1. Almost certainly Joseph Chamberlain, -who more than once 
indicated his leaning toward a closer understanding between 
the British Empire and Germany. There were rumors in 
Europe in 1898 of a German-British agreement. The idea 
was at the time by no means popular in Germany. In No- 
vember, 1899, a year after this letter was written, Mr. Cham- 
berlain in his famous Leicester speech openly expressed his 
desire for an alliance with the United States and Germany. 
He said: "We should not remain permanently isolated from 
the continent of Europe and I thinly this, that the moment 
that aspiration was formed it must have appeared evident to 
everybody that the natural alliance was between ourselves and 
the great German Empire." 

2. Without ado. 

3. According to Freiherr von Eckardstein, Counsellor of the Ger- 
man Embassy in London in 1896, steps to such an alliance 
were first taken by Lord Salisbury, who made a proposal to 
the Kaiser when the latter was attending the Cowes regatta 
on August 5th, 1895. According to Eckardstein, Lord Salis- 
bury proposed that Turkey be divided between England, Ger- 
many and Austria. The Kaiser spurned the offer. 

[50] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

Count von Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg, German ambassador in Lon- 
don, from 1885 until his death in 1901. 

The Kaiser made a mistake. Nicholas I. was the great-grand- 
father of Nicholas II. The reference is to Alexander 11., who 
was an enthusiastic Germanophil. 



[51] 



XVI 

Dearest Nicky 

WiLHELMSHOHE l8/vill 98 

Your kind permission allowing me to send dear 
old Werder to Moskau as my "representant" for 
the ceremony of the unveiling of your dear Grand- 
fathers^ statue gives me the opportunity to send you 
these lines through him. It is really an affair of 
sentiment which prompted me to send him and not 
a mere form of courtessy. Through Grandpapa I 
had often heard of Alexander II and when I had the 
honour to be presented to him I soon fell under his 
"charme" as happened to everybody who was hon- 
oured by his presence. To his kindness I am in- 
debted that I wear the uniform of the splendid Gren- 
adier Regiment, whose day it is to day, and which 
is a firm bond uniting me with your fine army, which 
I shall value and cherish to my dying day. 

Your diplomacy has just scored another great suc- 
cess in China, ^ to which I take the liberty of con- 
gratulating you the more so as it was done without 
the firing of a single shot and without any unneces- 
sary noise or bluster. The effect will be a great im- 
petus given to your trade and the industrial estab- 

[52] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

lishments of your country. Henry has just tele- 
graphed to me how kindly your authorities have re- 
ceived him, and are doing everything in their power 
to make his stay as agreeable as possible for him, 
which gives me the gratifying opportunity to thank 
you most heartily! I am most astonished at the 
amount of bosh and blarney that is beeing ventilated 
in the newspapers of Europe about my visit to Jeru- 
salem ! It is most discouraging to note that the sen- 
timent of real faith, which propels a Christian to 
seek the Country in which our Saviour lived and 
suffered, is nearly quite extinct in the so called better 
classes of the XlXth Century, so that they must ex- 
plain the Pilgrimage forcibly by Political motives. 
What is right for thousands even of your lowest 
peasants is right for me too ! Since I communicated 
to you this June, England has still now and then re- 
opened negotiations with us but has never quite un- 
covered its hand; they are trying hard, as far as I 
can make out, to find a continental army to fight for 
their interests ! But I fancy they wont easily find 
one, at least not mine! Their newest move is the 
wish to gain France over from you, and they In con- 
sequence have suddenly decided to send the Duke 
of Connaught to the French Army Maneuvres a nice 
Httle plan of Courcelles,^ I think, who is ardently 
at work between Paris and London. I allready once 
warned your people of him! Now good bye dear- 
est Nicky, how I envy, Werder seeing you and talk- 
ing with you! Best love to Alix. Are you going 

[53] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

to reintroduce the former uniforms again and but- 
tons? — Believe me 

Ever 

Your most aff-ate friend and cousin 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. Alexander II., the emancipator of the serfs. 

2. Germany and Great Britain having acquired interests in the 
Far East, Russia saw her terminals of the new Siberian railway- 
menaced. On March 8th, 1898, Russia made peremptory de- 
mand for the cession of Port Arthur and Talienwan. Control 
of the Gulf of Pechili was virtually given Russia by the con- 
cessions. 

3. Baron de Courcel, French ambassador in London, 1894 to 
1898. 



[54] 



XVII 

Yacht Loreley Stamboul 20/x 98. 
Dearest Nicky 

During my stay at Stamboul I gave audiences to 
the Ambassadors. I had the pleasure of making 
the acquaintance of Mr. Sinoview.^ I found in him 
a most accomplished diplomatist, a man with a very 
clear head. An energetic character, in all what one 
calls a powerful man. I congratulate you on such an 
excellent choice. We had a long conversation and 
of course his opinion about Oriental Matters was 
of the greatest value to me, it was a pleasure to 
listen to him. His going to see you gives me an 
opportunity to send these lines through him. The 
conversation also turned on Cretan matters and on 
the latest events that happened there. The source 
from which the latest excesses spring, was doubt- 
less not a clear one, and surely not the usual so 
called "mussulman fanaticism" generally talked of 
In the European press. I venture to suppose that 
Intrigues of a certain meddlesome Power^ have had 
something to do with them. In the course of our 
conversation SInovIew openly told me that the situa- 
tion was far from reassuring, and that the only pos- 

[55] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

sibility for getting out of the "impasse" was to make 
the Turks leave Crete bag and baggage! Wether 
that must be so I of course do not know, but as I 
had the opportunity of pointing out to you at Peter- 
hof,^ the question of Crete must be solved in a man- 
ner, that no general imbroglio comes from It which 
those scoundrels of Cretans are not worth. I have 
talked with many old and prominent Turks who 
have all asured me that the whole People had made 
Crete a question of National honour! That an evac- 
uation pure and simple If acceded to by the Sultan 
would cost him authority, Crown, even perhaps his 
life, and that they were all deeply concerned and 
afflicted. I therefore venture to make this known 
to you with hopes that in your wisdom you will 
kindly be able to find a solution, which is apt to save 
the Sultan's position vis a vis of his army and as 
Kallf vis a vis of the whole Mahometan world. You 
know by Osten Sackens reports which motives made 
me "lay down my fleet on the table."* Because I 
felt and saw that a certain Power was using us all 
others as catspaw to get us to help her to take Crete 
or Suda bay, and I would not be of the party who 
are expected to appear with bread and salt and on 
the top the keys^ of Crete praying the said Power 
to kindly look after the wellfare of those poor darl- 
ing "Cretans! who may one and all rost in hell"! 
The recent events have shown me that my suspicions 
were right and that this certain Power means mis- 
chief and to use force. That Is : they want to expel 

[56] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

the Mussulmen, who are horn and Natives of Crete 
like the Christian insurgents, only converted of Is- 
lamism, who are the landed proprietors, after these 
have lost everything they have, and give the prop- 
erty to the Christians who were till now their own 
paid tenants' and their labourers and who revolted 
against their masters. That Is the Cretan question 
in a nutshell ! and that Is what I call downright rob- 
bery! What an effect this act of pillage has had 
on the Mahometan world you have no idea, but I 
feel and see and hear it, what a terrible blow to the 
prestige of the Christian in general in the eyes of 
the Mussulman, and renewal of hatred you can 
hardly Imagine! The Powers concerned in Crete 
have played a foolish and most dangerous game, 
and that Is what compels me to call your kind atten- 
tion to the matter! Remember what you and I 
agreed upon at Peterhof never to forget that the 
Mahometans were a tremendous card in our game 
in case you or I were suddenly confronted by a war 
with the certain meddlesome Power. You as the 
master of millions of Mahometans must be the best 
judge of this. If you quietly go on following the 
lead of the other Power in Crete as has been done 
till now, the effect will (be) deplorable upon your 
own Mahometan subjects and on Turky, and you 
will lose a most precious ce tout out of your play! 
Therefore I Implore you to give this matter once 
more your most serious attention and if possible find 
means by which you can save the Sultan from a dan- 

[57] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

gerous and compromising situation envers ses su- 
jets^ and solve the Cretan question in a manner ac- 
ceptable to him. Dont forget that his Army fought 
valiantly and victoriously for Crete at Larlssa and 
Domokos^ and reconquered the Province. It would 
never forget or forgive another power the expulsion 
of their brothers in Aras and their Master from a 
rjeconquered Province! What a splendid oppor- 
tunity for you to step In and to save the Sultan from 
disgrace, the world from bloody war and gain the 
gratitude of all Mahometans! Otherwise revolu- 
tion may come, and the Sultan's blood may one day 
be at your door ! 

I beg your pardon for intruding like this in your 
time and repose, but the situation is too serious, the 
interests at stake are too manifold, and I should not 
wish to see Russia lose her fine position she still now 
has retained here; all hoping eyes are turned to the 
great Emperor of the East, will he bring the hoped 
for solution? My perhaps rather rough oppeness 
may show you how great and intense my love for 
you is. Best love to Allx 

Your aff-ate cousin and friend 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. Russian ambassador in Constantinople. 

2. Great Britain. 

[58] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 



3. August, 1897. 

4. In the Cretan question Germany had, in the words of Bulow, 
"laid down her flute and left the concert room." The German 
troops were withdrawn from Crete on March i6th. 

5. Quays. 

6. With regard to his subjects. 

7. Greeks defeated at Larisse April 23rd, 1897; at Domoko May 
17th, 1897. 



[59] 



XVIII 

Damaskus 9/xi 98. 
Dearest Nicky 

By the kind telegram you sent me to Jerusalem^ 
you intimate that you follow our journey with inter- 
est; this encourages me to send you a few lines at 
the end of our tour with some of my impressions. 
They are so manifold that it is rather difficult to 
fix them. 

In the first place Jerusalem has of course occupied 
our attention on account of the many places filled 
with reminiscences of our Saviour. The thought 
that His eyes rested on the same hills, that His feet 
trod the same ground is most stirring to ones heart, 
and makes it beat faster and more fervently. But 
I must frankly own that not all one sees relating 
to the Christian faith is exactly adopted for the pro- 
motion of this feeling. The manifold and different 
confessions and sects of our Common Christian faith 
have done too much in the way of church-building, 
the erection of monastries, chapels etc. on so called 
"Traditional Holy Places." Which has led to a 
sort of concurrence or race for the highest towers 
or biggest churches, which do not at all harmonise 

[60] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

with the sites they are erected on. In fact one could 
call it an exhibition of Church-models!^ This has 
also affected the clergies of the different churches, 
who have a pleasure in intrigues and political de- 
signs fostering hatred instead of love, and leading to 
free fights and battles in the churches instead of 
Psalms and friendly intercourse. But what is worse 
still they have created a worship of stones and wood, 
foribdden in the 2nd of the X Commandments, in- 
stead of the Divinity itself. A Frenchman character- 
istically said to me: "C'est I'adoration de la Pierre 
aux lieux 'soit disant Saints,' dont la Saintete ne 
peut etre garantie, et la Divinite n'est pour Rien!"^ 
Very true but most distressing to our Christian feel- 
ing. Very naturally this — I beg your pardon — Fet- 
ish adoration has created a supreme contempt for 
the Christians with the Moslems. My personal feel- 
ing in leaving the Holy City was that I felt pro- 
fondly ashamed before the Moslems and that if I 
had come there without any Religion at all I cer- 
tainly would have turned Mahommetan ! The way 
Religion is understood in Jerusalem, it will never 
lead to the conversion of a single Moslem, or the 
growth of a single tree or the digging of a single 
new well. I am afraid that Religion in Jerusalem 
is often used by the Clergies as a cover for political 
devices and designs and that is very wrong and does 
Christianity a very great harm as the Moslems have 
long ago perceived this and treat us accordingly. I 
return home with feelings of great disillusion and 

[6i] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

with the firm convictions that our Saviours grave 
quite certainly is not beneath that church of the 
Saint Sepulchre, which in its appearance and decora- 
tion compares very badly with the Mosque of Omar 
In its simple and awe inspiring grandeur ! — Alas ! — 
The most Interesting and the finest town from the 
oriental point of view is no doubt Damascus. Beirut 
with its lovely villas gardens and glades reminding 
one more of a town in the south of Italy or In Sicily. 
The Holy Land Is simply terrible In Its arid dryness 
and utter want of trees and water. But here every- 
thing is changed as If by magic! The great River 
Barader* gives life and coolness and fosters vegeta- 
tion of the finest description. The town Is situated 
In the midst of vast gardens and shady glades all 
watered by small rivulets giving them the aspect — 
when seen from above — of a large fasanarle of the 
circumference of 2 square miles ! The quiet lovely 
courtyards with their Arabian Masonry, their shady 
nooks and murmuring fountains with fresh water 
In marble basins, are simply unique, like in a dream ! 
You would be delighted to be here as you under- 
stand so much about the East! — Our reception^ 
here Is simply astounding never has a Christian — 
Giaur — Monarch been so feted and received with 
such unbounded enthusiasm. It is because I am a 
friend of their Sultan and Kaliph and because I all- 
ways pursued an open and loyal Policy toward him; 
the same I so often advocated for you too. The 
hatred of the English Is strong and growing more 

[62] ' 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

and more Intense — no wonder — whilst in the same 
time apace with it grows the open contempt of 
France, which has lost all the respect it once pos- 
sessed of old! That is the unavoidable consequence 
of the terrible quagmire the French are now floun- 
dering about in their interior affairs,^ splashing the 
dirt right and left till the whole of Europe reeks 
with the stench! Showing how far the corruption 
lying and dishounour has allready gained in the na- 
tion and before all in the army! Here people look 
upon them as on a dying nation, especially since the 
last and most ignominious retreat of the French 
from Faschoda!^ What on earth has possessed 
them? After such a first rate well arranged and 
plucky expedition of poor and brave Marchand? 
They were in a first rate position and able to help 
us others all in Africa who are sorely in need of 
strong help ! The news here have come like a thun- 
derbolt on the Eastern People, nobody would be- 
lieve them ! at all events if it is true, what the Pa- 
pers say, that count Mouravioff^ councelled France 
to take this foolish step he was singularily and ex- 
ceptionally ill advised, as it has given your '^friends 
and allies'' a mortal blow here and brought down 
their ancient prestige here never to rise again! The 
Moslems call it Frances second Sedan, and the poor 
french Consul I spoke to was in tears saying that 
all was crumbling to dust around him ! France will 
never forget that piece of friendship nor will she 
ever feel very grateful for them. These my dear 

[63] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

Nicky are the most interesting of my observations, 
which I openly and without backthought refer to 
after having seen with my own eyes and heard with 
my own ears what is going on in this most interesting 
country. I found all my suppositions and combina- 
tions I so often laid before you absolutely confirmed; 
Turky is very much alive and not a dying man. Be- 
ware of the Musulmen if you touch their National 
honour or their Khalif I Best love to Alix. 

Ever your most devoted friend and cousin 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. The Kaiser and Kaiserin entered Jerusalem in the afternoon 
of October 29th. The ostensible object of the Kaiser's visit 
was the consecration of the Church of the Redeemer. 

2. The Kaiser considered himself an expert in ecclesiastical archi- 
tecture, and took a prominent part in encouraging the building 
of churches throughout Germany. 

3. It is the worship of stone of so-called holy places of which 
the holiness cannot be guaranteed and the Divinity of which 
stands for nothing. 

4. The River Barada which runs through Damascus and con- 
verts the desert into a fruitful paradise. 

5. The Kaiser was welcomed by the Ulema of Damascus, who 
invoked Heaven's richest blessing on him, and was entertained 
at a banquet at the municipal hall. 

6. The Dreyfuss case was at its height at this time. It had been 
referred for revision to the Cour de Cassation on Septem- 
ber 26th. 

7. On July loth, 1898, Fashoda, an Egyptian military post, was 
occupied by a small French force coming from the Congo, com- 

[64] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

manded by Major Marchand. The incident created acute 
tension between France and Great Britain. The French Gov- 
ernment was eventually compelled to recall Major Marchand, 
which was done on November 4th, 1898. 

Michael Mouravioff was Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs 
in 1898. 



[65] 



XIX 

Berlin 6/v iqcx) 

Dearest Nicky 

In haste I just manage to write these few lines to 
thank you from the depth of my heart for your kind 
and dear letter you so kindly sent me through Cos- 
tia.^ Indeed I do so well remember the events of 
your coming of age and the ceremonies which ac- 
companied it! How bravely you spoke your oath 
and how deeply moved your dear father was when 
he embraced you afterwards ! How time has gone 
by! Now you too are ruler of a Great Empire and 
have children, and I have a grown up son! What 
a very kind idea it was of you to send Costia and 
dear old Richter^ as well as the Gentlemen of your 
suite to be present at the coming of the age of my 
boy.^ It makes me thankful and proud that you 
kindly take such an interest in the events which take 
place in our house, which is again a proof of the firm 
bond of friendship which we have inherited from 
our fathers and which, with Gods Will and help 
may never cease to exist ! The ceremony of his tak- 
ing the oath^ on the old colours of the I Rgt. of the 
Guards was most impressive and very touching, the 

[66] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

boy behaving most naturally and also very bravely 
before the great assembly of Princes etc. With 
thousand thanks and kind much love to dear Allx 
and the wishes for a good summer I remain 

Ever your most aff-ate cousin and friend 

Willy 

P.S. Our grand maneuvres this year between 
Guards and II A.^ Corps are near Stettin;*^ should 
you care to see some of it you could come with your 
yacht to Swinemunde and from there I could take 
you straight up the river to the town. 

W, 



NOTES 

1. Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovitch, the Czar's cousin. 

2. General von Richter, chief of the German Imperial Household. 

3. The Crown Prince was eighteen years old on May 6th, 1900. 
His birthday was celebrated with unprecedented ceremony, the 
Austrian Emperor being present. 

4. After the service in the Chapel of the Royal Palace, the Crown 
Prince repeated the oath of fealty to the colors as recited by 
General von Plessen, who had placed his own helmet on the 
Crown Prince's head. 

5. Second Army Corps. 

6. The maneuvres between the Guard Corps and the Second 
Army Corps took place in Pomerania during the first two 
weeks of September, 1900. The Czar did not accept the 
Kaiser's invitation. 



[67] 



XX 

SWINEMUNDE 8/VI I9OI 

Dearest Nicky 

I send you this lines through my son Adalbert^ to 
whom I trust you will kindly extend your grace. It 
is the first foreign country which he visits, and as 
he Is still only a middy I beg you will not make too 
much of him officially. He is young and steady and 
I rely upon you that you will kindly see that he does 
not get Into wrong or bad company. 

With best love to Allx and her times I remain, 
with great pleasure anticipating our meeting on the 
sea 

Ever your most aff-ate cousin and friend 

Willy 

NOTES 

I. Prince Adalbert arrived off Petrograd on July 19th in the 
German training ship "Charlotte." On July 23rd the Czar 
wearing the German Naval Uniform paid him a visit on board. 

[68] 



XXI 

i3/vi 1 90 1 Kiel 
Dearest Nicky 

My best and warmest thanks for your kind mes- 
sages through Paulis.^ Everything shall be ar- 
ranged as you wish. The fleet is to be anchored 
according to the wind, where the anchorage offers 
most cover. Boyes marked with Russian flags will 
be laid for your vessels. Aviso and torpedoboats 
will meet you and guide you to your berth. Am not 
going to bring any diplomatist with me; not even 
the chancellor^ excepting your wanting to see him. 

Waldersee^ will be there to "melden"* himself. 
Dear old Schouwaloff is in Berlin and the whole 
garnison is making its pilgrimage to him; in the 
streets every soldier makes "front" and in passing 
his window the bands play your Hymn. 

With greatest pleasure I look forward to meet 
you! WeidmannsheiP for Alix. 

Willy 

NOTES 

1. Count Pauli, Russian Naval Attache in Berlin. 

2. Count Bulow had succeeded Prince Hohenlohe as Chancellor 
October i8th, 1900. 

[69] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 



3. Field-Marshal Count von Waldersee was then on his way 
back from China. He had taken command of the Allied forces 
in China on September 27th, 1900. He left Peking on June 
3rd, 1901, and arrived at Hamburg on August 8th. The pro- 
posed arrangements for meeting between Czar and Kaiser 
must refer to the Danzig meeting of September nth. 

4. Report. 

5. Sportsman's greeting. 



[70] 



XXII 

WiLHELMSHOHE 22/VIII I9OI 

Dearest Nicky 

Your kind letter of the 17th has just reached me 
this morning and I hasten to thank you for the kind 
feelings you express in its lines. I am most grate- 
ful and highly pleased to see by your letter that I 
shall really have the great pleasure of meeting you 
near Dantzig.^ The more so as I shall do it at the 
head of my fleet, which will be most eager to salute 
its Admiral and which hopes that it will be able to 
earn his satisfaction when he inspects it. For it is 
well known among the officers and crews of my 
Navy, that with your interest in and knowledge of 
naval matters you look upon your position as our 
Hon. Admiral in real earnest and that you inspect 
with the eyes of an expert. Consequently they will 
use every effort to show what they can do. I only 
beg you not to forget — what you perfectly know 
through our publications^ — that my fleet is just in 
the act of expansion and transformation. This of 
course is a drawback to its outward appearance, as 
old material and new and many different types are 
grouped together, by which the general appearance 

[71] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar i 

of the Fleet shows a lamentable want of harmony 
and homogenousness. j 

You have kindly alluded to Adalbert's visit, whom 
you have awfully spoilt by your grand hospitality: 
your prise makes Papa and Mama very proud. I 
hope he will allways be worthy of it. Your sympathy | 
in my bereavement by the death of poor dear 
Mama^ has deeply touched me. You are of course 
able to judge from your own sad experience, when 
your poor father died, what it means to lose a parent i 
who to all human knowledge might have been spared ' 
to live for many long years! Yet in this case the 
suffering was so terrible, that one could look 
upon the end as a release, when the Lord called her 
away, and her last hours were I am thankful to say \ 
quite peaceful and painless. Thanks to the great 
speed of my Yacht and her consorts who took me 
in 28 hours from Bergen to Kiel, I was able to reach 
Cronberg in time to find her still conscious. I have 
communicated your kind Invitation to meet him, to 
the Chancellor,^ who is deeply honoured, that you 
show him such confidence, as he was quite unpre- 
pared. I myself am very happy, because he is a 
very good "connoiseur" of Russian affairs and tra- j 
ditions and retains a thankful memory and deep at- ! 
tachment to your family from his stay in Petersburg. 
Regarding Count Lamsdorf^ I shall of course re- ' 
ceive him should he be on board your Yacht ; should j 
that not be the case, and as we are not on shore at 
all, please do not trouble the poor Minister to make 

[72] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

the long voyage to Dantzlg. The heat we suffered 
from In Norway^ was appaling, up to 30° Reaumur 
In the shade! Like In Syria! My suite some 20 
men managed to finish off 167 bottles of Apollnarls 
In one day ! — May the weather be fine, without the 
above result when you come ; the details of the pro- 
gramme win be forwarded to you by Paulls. Best 
thanks for the Anna Medal just received, which 
pretty and gives me great pleasure and best love to 
Allx from your most devoted and aff-ate 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. The meeting of the Czar and the Kaiser at Danzig took place 
on September nth, 1901. 

2. The Empress Frederick died at Friedrichsruhe on August 
5th, 1 901. 

3. It was announced in Berlin on August 26th that Count Biilow 
would be present at the meeting of the two Emperors. 

4. The Russian Foreign Minister. 

5. The Kaiser had been recalled from Norway by the death of 
the Empress Frederick. 



[73] 



XXIII 

Neues Palais 17/xii 1901 

Dearest Nicky 

Your own dear brother Mlcha's^ visit is coming 
to an end and with great regret we see him leave. 
He is a cheering and most engaging young man, 
who has captivated everybody here, even my daugh- 
ter! He shot very well !'and has bravely gone 
through all the "corvees" of an official dinner with 
presentations and cercle, though greatly relieved 
that there was no "speechifying." All the people 
who met him were struck by his clear, open manly 
countenance and frank expression! He was a suc- 
cess ! I am most grateful for the kind words about 
Dantzig, which make me uncommonly proud. I 
hope that on my visit next summer I may be able to 
show a more homogenous squadron and one of the 
new protected cruisers! I am looking forward to 
our beeing together with pleasure! Colonel Kas- 
nakof is here with the officers of my Dragoons and 
seems a remarkably nice officer; I am so glad to have 
them all here. — I beg you, as a souvenir of my dear 
Mama, to accept a pin from me and a locket for 
Alix. Micha will hand them over to you. With 

[74] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 



the sincerest wishes for a happy new year and merry 
Xmas, I remain your loving cousin and friend 

Willy 



NOTES 



Grand Duke Michael, the Czarevitch, arrived in Berlin on 
December 15th, where he was received by the Kaiser at the 
station. The Czarevitch was present at a banquet at Potsdam 
on December i6th and went pheasant shooting with the Kaiser 
on the following day. 



[75] 



XXIV 

Neues Palais 3/1 1902 
Dearest Nicky 

These lines are to wish you a merry Xmas and 
a happy new Year.^ May God bless and protect you 
and wife and children and keep you all sound In 
body and soul. May your work for the Peace of 
the world^ be successful and well as the plans you 
are maturing for the wellfare of your country. 

I send you as Xmas present an officers dirk^ cor- 
responding to the model I Introduced Into our navy 
by order dated from the "Varlag"; which I beg you 
to accept as a souvenir of the kind visit you paid me 
off Danzig and of the merry hours we spent to- 
gether. 

This new sidearm Is so popular among our officers 
that I believe they even go to bed with it. 

My fleet Henry and I are allready looking for- 
ward to the day we shall be able to repay your vlsit^ 
this year, and I shall be most glad to know when you 
expect us and where? 

As you take such Interest In our navy, It will in- 
terest you to hear, that the new armoured cruiser 
"Prince Henry" is rapidly nearing completion and 

[76] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

has allready tried her* engines on the spot with most 
satisfactory results. She Is expected to join the 
fleet after her trials end of the winter. The new 
LIne~of Battleship, "Charlemagne" the 5th of the 
"Kaiser Class" will It Is hoped be ready for her 
trials at sea end of next week, and Henry hopes 
he will join him In a month. 

The "WIttelsbach" Class Is beeing pushed for- 
ward with all speed and It Is hoped will be able to 
join Henry's Flag after the maneuvres. This means 
an addition of 5 Line of Battleships, which will 
enable him to dispose of a fully homogenous fleet 
of "Peacemakers" which no doubt will make them- 
selves most agreeably felt and useful In helping you 
to keep the world quiet. The 5 new Line of Battle- 
ships have all been contracted for and have been be- 
gun, they constitute the first Division of the second 
Squadron. 

By the bye I see by the papers that the "historical" 
"Varlag" has arrived at "Kowelt".^ That Is a very 
wise thing that your flag Is shown there. For it 
does not seem Impossible that another Power^ was 
In the act of repeating the very successful experi- 
ment It made on the Nile, to haul down the Sultans 
flag, land some men and guns, hoist some flag or 
other under a pretext and then say: "J'y suls, j'y 
reste" ! In this case It would have ment paramount 
rule of all the trade routes of Persia leading to the 
Gulf, by this of Persia Itself and by that "Ta-Ta" 
to your proposed estabHshment of Russian Com- 

[77] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

merce, which is very ably begun by the conclusion 
of the "'Zollverein'* with Persia*^ by you. The be- 
haviour of the Foreign Power at "Koweit" sets into 
a strong relief, the enormous advantage of an over- 
whelming fleet which rules the approaches from the 
sea to places that have no means of communication 
over land, but which we others cannot approach be- 
cause our fleets are too weak and without them our 
transports at the mercy of the enemy. This shows 
once more how very necessary the Bagdad Railway^ 
is which I intend German Capital to build. If that 
most excellent Sultan had not been dawdling for 
years with this question the Line might have been 
begun years ago and would now have offered you 
the opportunity of despatching a few Regiments 
from Odessa straight down to "Koweit" and then 
that would have turned the tables on the other 
Power by reason of the Russian Troops having the 
command of the inner Lines on shore against which 
even the greatest fleet is powerless for many reasons. 
The main one — according to an adaptation of the 
Commander of Cronstadts answer to Peter the 
Great for not saluting him — "D'abord, parceque les 
vaisseaux ne peuvent pas marche sur terre",^ where- 
as you may say "cela suffit" ! The original answer 
of the gallant Admiral: "D'abord parceque je n'ai 
plus de poudre"^^ was vouchsafed the day before St. 
Nicholas to Henry by the Captain of the "Askold". 
My squadron has received orders to feast your 
namesday, by a rich display of bunting and of a 

[78] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

Royal salute. But when Henry enquired from the 
Captain v. Reitzenstein at what a clock the cere- 
mony was to take place, the latter declared he would 
do nothing of the sort, and even after Serge had 
sent word to him, flatly refused to hoist his pennant 
and to salute his Emperor, notwithstanding, that she 
is in commission and has her whole crew on board. 
My Squadron was deeply disappointed and much — 
if I may venture to say so — disgusted at the be- 
haviour of this man! I am sending you beside the 
dirk a most interesting book about the South Afri- 
can war, written by an Englishman, who wholly 
condemns the way it was entered into and the ends 
for which it was begun. It is very lucid to the point 
and shows that the Author maintains his impartiality 
to the last moment; a most gratifying exception to 
the rule now at' work in England. The parallel he 
draws between this war and the war against Ameri- 
can Colonies, 1775-83, is most surprising and strik- 
ing. The bearer of my gifts is my Aide-de-Camp, 
Captain von Usedom^^ — years ago for a time Hen- 
ry's adjutant — he was in Command of the "Hertha" 
during the China affair, and it is he who saved the 
Seymour Expedition and brought it safe back to 
Tientsin. He was in fact the Admiral's Chief of the 
Staff and to him was given the now "historical" or- 
der of which my "bluejackets" are so proud "Ger- 
mans to the Front", when the British Sailors refused 
to go on any farther. He was not present at Dan- 
zig, having injured his leg by a fall from his horse, 

[79] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

so I thought you would like to hear from his own 
lips the record of what men composing that ill- 
starred expedition suffered. Now dearest Nicky, 
Goodbye, best love to Alix, Micha and your Mama 
from 

Ever Your 
most aff-ate and devoted Cousin and friend 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. The Russian New Year was thirteen days later, according to 
the old style. 

2. The Czar proposed a conference of the Powers for the preser- 
vation of peace by disarmament on August 24th, 1898. A 
second proposal was issued in January 1899, and the first 
Hague conference sat from May to August of that year. 

3. The Kaiser and the Czar were on the Russian cruiser "Variag" 
on September 30th, attending the German naval maneuvres, 
when the German Emperor issued an order directing that all 
German naval officers, following the example of the Russian 
officers, should wear the dirk of a naval ensign. 

4. The Kaiser and Czar met at Reval, August 6-8, 1902. 

5. It was announced on December 20th, 1901, that the Sultan had 
sent for the Sheik Mabarouk of Koweit, to come to Constan- 
tinople. Mabarouk appealed to Great Britain for protection. 
A Bombay telegram of that date stated that a Russran cruiser 
"Variag" had just arrived in dock, where her four funnels 
and six searchlights had greatly impressed the natives. The 
situation was complicated by a report that a Turkish flag, 
which had been hoisted over Mabarouk's residence, had been 
hauled down by the commander of a British gunboat, who 
had it replaced by Marabouk's own flag in token of the Sheik's 
independence. 

6. Obviously Great Britain. 



[80] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

7. A financial agreement was concluded between Russia and 
Persia on January 30th, 1900. The Russo-Persian commercial 
agreement was not ratified by the Czar until February 14th, 
1903. 

8. The Baghdad Railway Concession was granted to a German 
syndicate at the end of November, 1899. 

9. First, because ships do not proceed on land. 

10. First, because I have no more powder. 

11. He was in command of the German troops which accompanied 
Admiral Seymour in his attempt to relieve Peking in June, 
1900. In the published official diary of the Captain, the fol- 
lowing entry was made: '']\ine 22nd, 1900. At i a. m. we 
continued our march, Seymour ordering 'Germans to the front,* 
but were delayed by junks running aground. . . . The Ger- 
mans had to go to the support of the English marines, who 
were hard pressed." Admiral Seymour, in a letter to the 
"London Morning Post" of January loth, 1920, gave his version 
of the "Germans to the front" order. The Admiral writes: 
"Owing perhaps to the ex-Kaiser's occasional uncertain mem- 
ory, the statement about the Germans is not correct. I do 
not believe I ever gave the order stated, but if so it was only 
as a tactical arrangement for the moment of one day. Our 
own men were the most numerous body, and therefore took 
the chief part throughout; while the other seven nationalities 
all behaved well. Captain von Usedom was a fine officer 
and loyal to me, but I only made him Chief of my StaflP after 
Captain Jellicoe (now Admiral of the fleet) had been severely 
wounded and because the Germans were next in numbers 
below ours." 



[81] 



XXV 

Berlin 30/1 1902 

Dearest Nicky ^ 

Let me once more thank you by letter for your 
kind thought of sending your favorite Aide de Camp 
ObolenskI with the presents for my birthday. The 
"pelerine" Is most practical and will do good service 
In all weathers, notabene In going In a launch to and 
from the "Standart" to the "Hohenzollern" at 
Reval! Then the vases are quite charming; the 
blue one with "pate sur pate" Is an exquisite speci- 
men and a most handsome decoration In my salons. 
ObolenskI accompanied me all through the different 
functions of my birthday and will be able to tell you 
what a poor, overworked "Landesvater"^ has to go 
through before he Is able to sit down quietly for a 
morsel of food and a cigarette ! ! However we 
managed to be very jolly as all my "Geschwlster"^ 
were here and Henry managed to keep the family 
alive, elated as he Is with the prospect of paying the 
Americans and their fair ladles a flying vlslt,^ which 
to our great amusement seems to create considerable 
"toothache" in the shores on the side of the Chan- 
nel! 

[82] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 



But I must not take up your precious time any 
longer; ObolenskH brings you the tables of the Rus- 
sian, American, and Japanese Navies drawn up 
according to the latest reports, and photographs 
from Danzig, upon which I allways look back with 
thanks and pleasure as your most dutiful and aff- 
ate cousin and friend 

JVilly 



Best love to Alix. 



NOTES 

1. Father of his country. 

2. Brothers and sisters. 

3. Prince Henry arrived in the United States on February 23rd, 
1902. 

4. Prince Vladimir Nicholaievitch Obolensky, Colonel of the 
Preobrajensky Guard Regiment. 



[83] 



XXVI 

Generalcommando Posen 2/ix 1902 

Dearest Nicky 

Since my return from Reval I have been very 
buisy, as you will have seen by the papers. Now that 
my illustrious guest the King^ has left after a suc- 
cessful visit I am able in the "trouble'' of maneuvres 
to spare a few minutes, which will consecrate to 
these lines I send you. For needless to say so, the 
souvenir of Reval is still vivid before my eyes; with 
it the kindness and friendship you showed me, the 
fine military display, the efficiency of your fleet at 
target practice and at evolutions and last not least 
the many hours of amiable and undisturbed com- 
panionship with friendly intercourse I was allowed 
to spend with you, all that is still forward in my 
thoughts and still fully occupies my suites and my 
mind that I feel it would be a decided want of tact 
and education if I did not once more thank through 
this letter from all my heart. The whole stay was 
a continuous treat for me; but it was more. The 
school of Naval gunnery which was shown to me 
by your orders is the most vital part of the develop- 
ment of the Navy and of its preparation for "busi- 

[84] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

ness." Through this permission you showed me a 
special mark of confidence — in fact a reciprocity for 
what I showed you at Danzig — which Imphes a com- 
plete trust In the visitor, only possible between men 
having the same ideas and principles, and which be- 
tween two Monarchs means united work in the com- 
mon cause of preserving the peace for their coun- 
tries. This trust and faith you have shown me is, 
— I can assure you — not misplaced, for I fully re- 
ciprocate it. That is shown by the fact that the 
secret plans for my newest ships — invisible to the 
foreigner — were handed over to you and to the dis- 
cretion of your Naval authorities. To these facts 
add that we both have the same interest in the de- 
velopment of our Navies, that the passion for the 
sea Is inborn to us, that will suffice to show that we 
must look at our two navies as one great organiza- 
tion belonging to one great Continent whose inter- 
est it must safeguard on its shores and in distant 
seas. This means practically the Peace of the 
World. 

For as the Rulers of the two leading Powers of 
the two great Continental Combinations we are able 
to exchange our views on any general question touch- 
ing their Interests, and as soon as we have settled 
how to takle it, we are able to bring our Allies to 
adopt the same views, so that the two AUiances — 
I.e. 5 Powers — having decided that Peace is to be 
kept, the World must remain at peace, and will be 
able to enjoy its blessings. This is a vivid illustra- 

[85] 



Letters from the Kaiser to t he Czar 

tlon of the fact that the two AUiances hold the bal- 
ance of Europe and of the World in keeping in close 
communication with each other by the annual meet- 
ing of their two leaders to exchange their views. 

This is the more necessary as/certain symptoms 
in the East seems to show that Japan is becoming 
a rather restless customer and that the situation ne- 
cessitates all coolness and decision of the Peace 
Powers. The news of the attachment of the Jap- 
anese General Yamai^ — former leader of the Jap. 
troops in China — to the Legation at Peking in order 
to take in hand the reorganisation of the Chinese 
Army — i.e. for the unavowed object of driving 
every other foreigner out of China — is very serious. 
20 to 30 Million of trained Chinese helped by half 
a dozen Jap. Divisions and led by fine, undaunted 
Christian hating Jap. Officers, is a future to be con- 
templated not without anxiety; and not impossible. 
In fact it is the coming into reality of the *'Yellow 
Peril" which I depicted some years ago, and for 
which engraving I was laughed at by the greater 
mass of the People. J 

As it is interesting to see how the distribution of 
Naval Power would be in case complications should 
arise in the East I have made a rough and approxi- 
mate calculation, which has taken the form of a 
table, which I submit to you. The numbers are not 
accurate as the ships are constantly changing, but 
are more to serve as a general clue. The vessels 

[86] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

nearing completion are counted as available, and the 
oldest ones as well as smaller ones are omitted. 

The review went off very well and the V Corps 
was as good as when you saw it near Gorlitz. 
Everybody was glad to welcome your officers and 
the Governor General Tschertkoff.^ I am most 
grateful you allowed them to come and am quite 
charmed with the whole bearing of the fine old sol- 
dier, who has shown himself exactly as you described 
him to me. I have given him the Black Eagle to 
show how I appreciate his visit. He as well as all 
your officers — who made an excellent impression on 
me — were deeply afflicted and of course we all too 
including my wife, at the mishap of Ahx; God grant 
she may soon recover, and that she may feel no ill 
effects. With Victoria's and my best love to you 
both I remain your most devoted friend and cousin 

Willy 
Ad. of Atlantic 



NOTES 

1. The King of Italy, in Germany August 27-31, 1902. 

2. Major-General Yamai was Military Attache at the Japanese 
Legation in Peking in 1902-1903. 

3. The Governor-General of Warsaw. 



[87] 



XXVII 

Berlin 14/1 1903 
Dearest Nicky 

These lines will be presented to you by my boy. 
My sisters generally call him "Billy No. 2" or 
"Little Willy"^ to discern him from his father. I 
place him under your kind protection and hope you 
will be satisfied with his manners; he is still very 
young and only beginning to form himself, so that 
should he make any "bevues" you will kindly over- 
look them. Besides these Hnes he is the bearer of 
a number of Xmas presents for you which I was 
unable to send earher. 1/ a large Model of our 
new (H) class of battleships, ^ which you said at 
Reval would please you to accept. Schimmelmann 
is able at any moment to explain it to you. 2/ a 
watercoulour representing a history of the forms and 
coulourings of our regimental coulours and Stand- 
ards since the time of the Great Elector down to my 
time. The first half is from the Elector to 1806, 
the second 1900. 

3/The whole of the uniforms, arms, cuirasse and 
accoutrements belonging to your new Cuirassier Regi- 

[88] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

ment,^ which I hope will fit you. They are in charge 
of my old Kammerdiener you saw at Reval, 
"Father" Schultz. He is to instruct your "man" 
how to put on the different things. 

4/ Some brochures and Magazines which I 
thought might perhaps interest you in your hours of 
leisure. 

With respect to the coulours of our army I have 
a request to make to you. On the first (Elect- 
oral Table) there are the first coulours which be- 
longed to the Regiment of Guards of the First King 
given after his coronation as Frederick I. Blue 
with gold flames, crowns and eagles, and white with 
black Eagle and gold crowns. These colours have 
been kept in our Arsenal until in the 7 Years War 
they were carried off from there by the Russian 
troops that occupied Berlin, with many other things 
out of the Arsenal. We are now with great care 
and difficulty rewriting the history of our colours 
and I would be so thankful if you kindly would allow 
them to be copied in aquarell or oil so that we may 
be able to have an authentic likeness of them as they 
are in Petersburg. Trusting that all will come off 
well and enveying my boy the pleasure of seeing 
you 

I remain 

Ever your most aff-ate friend and cousin 

''Billy'' No. I 

[89] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 



NOTES 

1. The Kaiser was generally called by his brothers and sisters 
"big brother." The Crown Prince arrived in Petrograd on 
January i6th, and left on January 24th, 1903. 

2. The "Braunschweig." It carried four ii-inch guns, displaced 
12,997 tons and had a speed of 18 knots. 

3. The "Nicholas II. Emperor of Russia" 8th Regiment of Cuiras- 
siers of the Guard. 



[90] 



XXVIII 

Neues Palais 19/ix 1903 

Dearesi Nicky 

It is impossible for me to pass over the sudden 
and tragic death of that sweet little sunshine/ with- 
out sending you just a word to tell you, how deeply 
I feel for you all In this sad affair. It is really very 
difficult to realise the fact; that this darling child is 
no more among us ! How joyous and merry she was 
that day at Wolfsgarten^ when I was there, so full 
of life and fun and health, and to think that one 
shall never see her again In this world! What a 
terrible heartrending blow for poor Ernie, ^ who 
doated and adored that little enchantress! May 
heaven give him power to bear up under such a 
blow! I am still under the charm of the 2 days I 
was able to spend with you and they remain a de- 
lightful souvenir for me. You remember our con- 
versation about the Balkans and Turkey, and my 
later telegram with my Instructions to my Ambas- 
sador to give the Sultan an energetic lecture that it 
was hightime for him to at least conform himself to 
the "Miirzsteg Programme"*? Well these instruc- 
tions have led to a conversation between my Am- 

[91] 



Tjetters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

bassador^ and the Sultan a few days ago, which took 
an hour and three quarters. The Sultan was very 
tough; and decidedly in the idea, that a refusal to 
comply with the wishes of Russo-Austria backed by 
me, would bring no great harm to him ! The Am- 
bassador had to make use of every power of ex- 
pression feasible for him versus a Monarch, to bring 
the gravity of the situation home to His Majesty, and 
left him "a sadder but a wiser man" after he had made 
it quite clear to him that on no account v/hatever 
would I raise a hand in his support or speak a word 
for him, should he involve himself and his country 
into serious consequences, by refusing to fullfill the 
wishes of H. M. the Russian and the Austrian 
Emperors, who had shown almost angelic patience 
and forbearance with his bearing, and who strictly 
adhered to the February^ and Miirsteg Programm 
backed up by me. The Ambassador is under the im- 
pression that very animated intrigues are going on 
in the Palace among a band of organs of very shady 
nature who surround the Sultan and with incredible 
lies managed to abuse of his credulity and to keep 
away the Grand Vizier, whose influence is feared 
by them, and who is perfectly in harmony and loy- 
ally "d'accord" with our 3 ambassadors. 

Another interesting piece of news reached me 
from Sofia. The Prime Minister"^ of the "Arch- 
plotter"^ in a conversation after dinner, gave utter- 
ance of his and the country's extreme dissatisfaction 
at the Miirzsteg Programme ! That it was not 

[93] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

enough for them, and that they must insist on get- 
ting more. But as he was quite sure that the Im- 
perial Powers would not grant more, they all in 
Bulgaria turned to Italy, England and France! 
From these countries alone hope was forthcoming 
for the future of Bulgaria and Macedonia; alone 
they would bring "freedom" — i.e. Parliaments and 
Republics — for the suppressed Balkan Races ! This 
shows you again, what I hinted at in our conversa- 
tion, that the "Crimean Combination" is forming 
and working against Russian interests in the East. 
"The democratic countries governed by parliamen- 
tary majorities, against the Imperial Monarchies.". 
History allways will repeat itself. 

With best love to Alix and hopes for her speedy 
recovery I remain ever 

Your true and devoted friend and cousin 

Willy 



NOTES 

I. Princess Elisabeth of Hesse, only daughter of Ernest Louis 
Grand Duke of Hesse by his first marriage with Princess Vic- 
toria of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The marriage was dissolved 
in 1901. The Princess, who was only eight years old, was 
staying with the Czar's children. There was a story current 
in Russia that she was poisoned. It is said that one day at 
dinner the Czar served with a plate of soup passed it with 
some smiling remark about "ladies first" to the little princess, 
who died the same night. It was officially announced that 
the child had died of abdominal typhus. 

[93] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

2. Near Darmstadt, where the Czar and Kaiser met on November 
4 and 5, 1903, a fortnight before this letter was written. 

3. The Grand Duke of Hesse. 

4. The program of Macedonian reforms drawn up by Count 
Lamsdorf, the Russian Foreign Minister, and Count Goluch- 
owsky, the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister, at their meet- 
ing in Miirtzeg, October 9th, 1903. 

5. Baron Marschall von Bieberstein. 

6. The preliminary Austro-Russian reform program was pre- 
sented to the Porte on February 21st, 1903. 

7. Major-General R. Petrow, the Bulgarian Prime Minister. 

8. Ferdinand of Bulgaria, formerly Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, 
recognized by the Powers as Czar of Bulgaria in 1909. 



[94] 



XXIX 

Neues Palais 4/xii 1903 

Dearest Nicky 

Enclosed I send you some interesting material for 
your amusement. Articles about politics, about 
naval matters, a description of floods in Peters- 
burg — which I do not know whether it is right — and 
an illustrated magazine about the last maneuvres. 
Perhaps you will find topics which will remind you 
of our last conversation, and show how the develop- 
ment of events is looked upon in Europe, perhaps 
sometimes different from the aspect at Petersburg. 
If they are old news I beg your pardon, but as you 
said at Wolfsgarten, it did not matter, provided it 
were news relating to the interests common to the 
surety of our 2 nations I venture to submit them to 
you; they come from cuttings from quite different 
sources and papers. How glad I am that Alix is all 
right again and free from that abominable pain ! The 
shooting results are very fine and I wish you "Weid- 
mannsheil" with all my heart. I sent Gen. Adjut. 
V. Loewenfeld^ to London to give the long service 
cross (25 years) to Uncle Arthure^ and in the same 

[95] 



Letters from t he Kaiser to the Czar 

time to reconnoitre the frame of mind and the flow 
of public opinion about the Eastern Question. His 
mother is an English Lady, so he speaks it very 
well. What he saw or heard I shall let you 
know. 

The Officers in Command of my troops in China 
have been for a long time allready ordered closely 
to survey the intercourse between Japs and Chinese 
Military and the growing influence of Japan with 
the Chinese Army. 2 days ago I got a report that 
the Japs are clandestinely arming the Chinese behind 
your and my backs against us. That they have con- 
cluded a secret engagement with China to provide 
the Army with 20000 new repeating Rifles and am- 
munition, 48 field guns, and 12 Mountain guns 
(rapid firing) with ammunition to be there till next 
summer. The Chinese troops are drilling day and 
night, as the people who watched them for instance 
at Pao-tins-fu say, remarkably well! Commanded 
by Jap. instructing officers, whose numbers are 
steadily increasing! Nice business! I believe the 
Chinese might not to be allowed to have Japs in 
their Army ! They are sure to rouse Chinese hopes 
and inflame their hatred against the White Race in 
general and constitute a grave danger to your rear 
in case you would have to face a Jap adventure on 
the Seashore. Begging your pardon for my liberty 
I have taken I hope the Admiral of the Pacific will 
not be angry with the Admiral of the Atlantic's sig- 

[96] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

nals, who Is allways on the lookout! Ta, ta, best 
love to Allx 

From your devoted friend and cousin toujours en 
vedette 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. General Alfred von Loewenfeld was General a la suite from 
1 901 to 1904 

2. The Duke of Connaught. There is no record of the Long 
Service Cross having been conferred on the Duke. He was 
appointed Prussian Field Marshal in 1906. 



'[97] 



XXX 

Berlin 3/1 1904 
Dearest Nicky 

These lines are meant to reach you on your Xmas 
Eve and will I hope find you well and happy with 
Alix well again at your side and the merry little 
company^ romping around you in the glimmer of the 
light of the Xmas tree. I once more wish you every 
blessing of Heaven on all your ways, may your 
precious life be spared to us all as well as of all those 
dear to you. May your plans meet with full success : 
if in peaceful ways, softly as a rippling brook; if by 
the decision of the arms, may they be victorious and 
your Standards wave enwreathed with fresh laurels. 

Many thanks for your kind letter from December 
20th which Is a new testimonial of your confidence 
so precious to me. We only shall have to be careful 
lest the scheme, 2 so auspiciously started, should get 
wrecked on some question of detail. When I parted 
from your dear old Grandfather the King I was un- 
der the impression that the subject occupied his 
mind, and that he was meditating. In order to find 
the form best suited to the requirements of his 
country. As base for our conversation, I used some 

[98] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

Danish Newspaper Articles about Danish neutrality. 
As their comments appear to have attrackted a good 
deal of attention in Denmark, I enclose a short ex- 
tract of them, which may serve as help to show you 
the nature of the difficulties that the king seemed to 
foresee and to apprehend from his people at home. 
Hence it becomes evident that the King, as the party 
most concerned In the issue of the question. Is doubt- 
less first of all entitled to an expression of his views, 
and to have them worded and drawn up by some- 
body possessing his absolute confidence. It there- 
fore struck me as the next step to be taken In this 
matter would be the best, if you were to write to 
your grandfather to submit the proposals to us as 
soon as they have attained a form acceptable to him; 
and that we look forward to his giving us the full 
scope of his Ideas concerning the question of the 
Danish neutrality. Considering the bygone days of 
'64 it is clear that the Danes still look a little askance 
at us and therefore they will view a proposal relat- 
ing to their destiny with more favour if it comes 
from you; who are so nearly related to their King 
and who are the son of a Princess passionately 
adored by them. I send you enclosed some inter- 
esting articles. One about our Navy and Russia's 
Policy from the 19th Century; one about your 
Commercial Fleet. 2 English Paper cuttings from a 
penny Newspaper^ which is daily read by thousands 
in the streets of London and elsewhere In England. 
It is to show you with what stufif and in what a tone 

[99] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

this Press is feeding its readers for many weeks all- 
ready, and how they are blowing at the flames were 
they can. To us here on the Continent this hypocrisy 
and hatred is utterly odious and incomprehensible I 
f Everybody here understands perfectly that Russia 
following the laws of expansion must try to get at 
the Sea for an iceless outlet for its commerce. By 
this law it is entitled to a strip of coast where such 
harbours are situated (Wladiw.,* Port Arthur) 
their ''Hinterland" must be in your power so as to 
allow your building the Railways which are to carry 
the goods to the ports (Mandschuria) Between the 
two ports is a tongue of land which may — in one 
adversaries hand — ^become a new sort of Darda- 
nells. That is impossible for you to allow. These 
"Dardanells" (Korea) must not threaten your com- 
munications thereby hampering your commerce. 
That is allready on the "Black Sea" and that is not 
what you want to the Far East for! Therefore it 
is evident to every unbiassed mind that Korea must 
and will be Russian. When or how that is nobody's 
affair and concerns only you and your country. That 
is the opinion of our People here at home and there- 
fore there is no exitement or "emballement" or war 
roumors or anything of that sort here. The sure 
end that Korea will once be yours is a foregone con- 
clusion here like the occupation of Mandschuria, 
hence nobody troubles themselves about it here! 

The new years cards will amuse you, they were 
taken at your arrival at Wiesbaden ! a little souvenir 

[ lOO ] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

of the happy days. A happy new Year and Weid- 
mannsheil also for ''Big game"^ 

from your devoted cousin and friend 

Willy 
best love to Allx. 



NOTES 

1. The Czar's four daughters, aged from two to nine. 

2. The reference is to the effort to obtain Denmark's adherence 
to a Russo-German alliance. On December 17th, 1903, King 
Christian IX. visited Germany. The Kaiser prophesied to him 
that in the event of a Russo-Japanese war the British fleet 
would undoubtedly attack the Russian ports of the Baltic and 
that the German fleet would defend Danish waters, but that 
Denmark "ought to defend its neutrality" against England. 
The "dear old grandfather, the King" is the father of Maria 
Feodorovna, the mother of Nicholas IL, who was a Danish 
Princess. 

3. This may refer to "The Morning Post" of December 31st, 
1903, which printed the following in its leading editorial: 
"Japan's whole policy and prospects are threatened by the 
Russian policy in the Far East, so that Japan is in the position 
of feeling her national existence challenged. . . . Great Britain 
is absolutely bound to help Japan in case Russia should find 
an ally. But the best way to prevent Russia from finding an 
ally is for Great Britain to make plain at once that she will 
assist Japan and that she is able and ready to do so." 

4. Wladiwostok or Vladivostok. 

5. War? 



[lOl] 



XXXI 

Neues Palais 9/1 1904 
Dearest Nicky 

Only a line to tell you how my thoughts are oc- 
cupied with you in this serious time. May God 
grant that everything will come off smoothly, and 
that the Japs may listen to reason; notwithstanding 
the frantic efforts of the vile press of a certain 
country. That also seems to have money left to 
sink It into the Japanese mobilization abyss. I thank 
you for the communique you sent me officially 
through Osten-Sacken. It is very clear and will 
doubtless lead to a strengthening of Peace. I hope 
it will appease the feelings of the impertinent war 
party in Japan as it will surely satisfy the rest of 
the Powers anxious for their commerce to whom 
"open door" was once promised. 

I send you a copy of "Marine Rundschau" with 
an article about "Ironclad Cruizers" written by L.^ 
This L. is a mask under which I hide myself, for I 
wrote It, but nobody has a blessed notion except 
Tirpitz. As material for my article — written in No- 
vember — I managed to get very interesting details 
about "Rivadaria" and "Moreno" — now presented 
[ 102] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

to Japan by England^ — who were then building for 
Argentina. These plans which are quite '^conjiden- 
tiar and were submitted to me by express permis- 
sion of the President of the Argentine Republic, 
were sent me by Amaldo. As the ships may interest 
you, I send you the Atlas, for your personal use. I 
think the ships a perfect type of "Ironclad Cruizer" 
because they manage to get much into a small ton- 
nage "multum in parvo". They cost 15 Mill. 
francs each, which is not much. May your men not 
have to fight against them; it is indeed a great pity 
you did not buy them. The paper cutting shows 
you what a certain people call neutrality. 

Best wishes for a year of happiness and Peace and 
in the hopes of meeting you in it and with warmest 
love to Alix 

Ever Yours most aff-ctlonally 

Willy 

P.S. Forgive me if I trouble you so often with 
telegrams, but at Wolfsgarten, you kindly said that 
you were thankful for any news worth while which 
I was able to communicate to you; of course / rely 
on your secrecy, as they are only for you. 

Admiral of Atlantic, 



NOTES 

I. The article appeared in the January, 1904, issue of the "Ma- 
rine-Rundschau" and is the only one in the files of this maga- 

[ 103] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 



zine bearing the pseudonym of "L." It takes up and answers 
the question, "What exactly is an armored cruiser?" 
The "Rivadaria" and the "Moreno" were not presented but 
sold by England to Japan. 



1 104 ] 



XXXII 

Berlin ii/ii 1904 

Dearest Nicky 

The answer to your kind letter of congratulation 
for my birthday^ which made me so happy, was 
already begun, when the events occurred which led 
to the war^ between you and Japan. I thought it bet- 
ter to wait for some sort of communication from you, 
in case I should be able to answer you. The out- 
break of hostilities^ has had sad consequences for 
your brave Navy, which have deeply moved me! 
How could it be otherwise seeing that I am a Rus- 
sian Admiral and proud of this rank too! Evi- 
dently the serious events show that the warning news 
I could send you through my ciphers were absolutely 
correct, and that since long the Japanese Government 
were in bitter ernst and decided to have war. Part 
of the ships at Port Arthur are known to me by my 
inspections, and also their officers and crew and my 
heart is full of sympathy for the poor families strick- 
en by the loss of many numbers. I can well imagine 
how sore at heart you must feel that all your pains to 
secure peace were of no avail. But on the other hand 
this gives you a good conscience and a clear one 

[105] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

too, which allows a man — as I often say — to march 
to the fray without knapsack or impedimenta. It 
seems that Heaven — on whose help and will we 
both rely — has willed that it should be so! Then 
you must look upon the events in the light of a Trial 
for yourself and your country, which is to enable 
you and them to show and develop all the great 
qualities which are dormant in the Russians, which 
they allready once proved in the great times of the 
first years of the 19th Century! 

It is my wish that — subject to your kind approval 
— if possible a Prince of my house should accom- 
pany your troops as spectator to learn the Art of 
war. I would choose the Prince Fr. Leopold^ my 
brother in law, who is burning to go and speaks 
Russian. Perhaps you will kindly let me know 
whether my application can be granted. 

You may rest assured that day and night my 
thought are occupied with you all ! I send this let- 
ter through Schenk^ — your Colonel — who is to offer 
you the "Grenadier Cap" which the Alexander Regi- 
ment begs you to accept. I pray Heaven may shield 
and protect you and all your family through com- 
ing times. Warmest love to Alix and your mother 
from 

Ever your most devoted friend and cousin 

Willy 

The news I gave you a month ago concerning the 
sale of arms to China-Youan-shi-Kai from Japan is 

[106] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the C-znr 



confirmed. I managed to get a copy of the contract 
signed last October with the firm of Okwa and 
Comp. in Japan. 

1/ 14000 new Jap. Inftry Rifles (Meyji) with 
cartridge boxes etc. 22 taels each and 7 mill, 
cartridges to be delivered at Tientsin April 
next. 
2/ 48 (Arisaka) field Guns 7,5 at 5668 yen each. 
12 (Arisaka) mountain guns 7,5 cm. 1710 
yen each 

48 ammunition carts at 8 yen, 5 Forges 
200 shell, 200 shrapnel per gun at 10 yen and 
8 yen. 

The row steel material is being produced in 
France (Greuzot) — your Ally! — and to be finished 
in Japan. To be delivered at Tientsin in May next. 
The Vice Roy of Nanking has ordered from the 
same firm in September, 1903, 200,000 chests of 
Ammunition and Knopsacks for 70000 Men. 

NOTES 

1. The Kaiser was born on January 27th, 1859. 

2. Japan had formally declared war the day before this letter 
was written. 

3. On February the 8th, 1904, the Japanese torpedoed three Rus- 
sian warships lying off Port Arthur. 

4. Frederick Leopold, Prince of Prussia, the Kaiser's cousin, mar- 
ried Princess Louise Sophie of Schleswig-Holstein, the Kaiser- 
in's sister. He hoisted the red flag on his palace at Potsdam 
in November, 1918, when the German revolution broke out. 

1 107 ] 



1 

Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar ! 

5. The Kaiser sent a telegram of sympathy to the Czar after . 

the Russian reverse at Port Arthur and through Colonel von 1 
Schenck supplemented the telegram by this letter. Von Schenck 
also brought the Czar from the Kaiser the helmet of the 

Alexander Regiment of Prussian Grenadier Guards, of which J 

the Czar was the chief. ' 



T108] 



XXXIII 

Gaeta 29/111 1904 

Dearest Nicky 

You will I am sure be Interested in the cruise* 
of mine in the Mediterranean. Our voyage on the 
big Lloyd Steamer "Konig Albert" was most suc- 
cessfull. We allways had smooth water; even the 
Bay of Biscay behaved like the lake at Peterhof. 
When we had some breeze or sea It was dlre,ct from 
the aft. The big ship — she displaced between 
1 5000-1 6000 Tons, was most comfortable without 
any motion, no vibration from the engines, was very 
well kept, and splendidly handled by her first rate 
Captain. The kitchen was excellent, the company 
was merry. What a pity you could not be there, 
how you would have enjoyed it all I The 
Spanish coast is very fine but without vegetation. 
Vigo a grand bay with room for all the fleets of the 
world. British fleets visit there every month; Henry 
was there last year with our Squadron. The Straits 
are imposing. But Gibraltar is simply overwhelm- 
ing! It is the grandest thing I ever saw. Words 
are utterly inadequate to give the slightest idea 
of what it Is. Grand in its nature by the military 
Power, that is stored on and around this mighty 
[109] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

Rock. In military circles I found much interest in 
the war but no preparation for it and no animosity 
against Russia. Port Mahon is a quiet and the 
cleanest Spanish town, with a pretty land locked har- 
bour. Something like Malta en miniature. Naples 
is too lovely and bewitching; summer climate, lots 
of flowers, carnations especially, orange trees full 
of oranges! The King was well, and much inter- 
ested in the war, which he is accurately studying. 
He mentioned that he had news of the mobilisation 
of the Turkestan and Caucasian Troops, who were 
allready moving. I said I thought it most unlikely, 
and that I had never heard a word about it. I 
quited him about the Balkans, which always have, 
it seems, a great attraction for him and said that 
nothing would happen there, the great Empires bee- 
ing resolved not to stand any nonsense from any- 
body. By the way I see from the papers that 
our Treaty of Commerce- seems to have come to a 
deadlock. I fancy the Geheim-Rathe and Tschinow- 
niks^ are gone off to a sweet slumber, after having 
spoiled a lot of ink, more than is good in fact. I 
would give anything to see it, what a lark it would be 
if you suddenly were to thump your Imperial fist 
on the "Table of green cloth" and give the lazy ones 
a jump I After all one cannot wait for ever con- 
sidering the many months that have allready been 
wasted. A promise of a nice pic-nic in Siberia will 
I am sure do wonders. Perhaps it would tend to 
quicken the pace of affairs if you were to send some 
[no] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

person of importance to Berlin straight to Biilow to 
finish the game off with him personally; a man of 
first rate capacity and well versed, in such matters; 
that would do much good. 

Tomorrow we leave for Sicily-Messina — where 
we shall spend Easter week. Good-bye, dearest 
Nicky, God bless you and be with you through all 
the important times, you know how my thoughts are 
now with you. Best love to Alix from Your 

affectionate cousin and friend 

Willy 



NOTES 

The Kaiser left Bremerhaven in the "Konig Albert" on March 
I2th. He met the King of Spain at Vigo, and arrived at Gi- 
braltar on March i8th. He was entertained by Sir George 
White, the Governor, and by Lord Charles Beresford on board 
his flagship. He is said to have remarked when visiting the 
signal station on the Rock: "It has quite reached my expecta- 
tion. It is grand like everything British. I am not surpriced 
at Gibraltar's being impregnable." He reached Naples on 
March 24th and there boarded the "Hohenzollern." He met 
the King of Italy on March 26th. 

The Russo-German Commercial Treaty was signed on July 
28th, 1904. This treaty at the time of its conclusion provoked 
a storm of protests in Russia. Germany had made use of 
Russia's difficulties in the war against Japan and exacted from 
the Czar's Government important economic concessions. Russia 
was compelled to grant practically an open market to German 
manufacturers and preferential railway terms without any re- 
ciprocal benefit. 

Literally civil servants, but in the popular terminology bu- 
reaucrats. 

[Ill] 



XXXIV 

Berlin 6/vi 1904 

Dearest Nicky 

Your kind letter which Kroupensky delivered to 
me two days ago has greatly touched me. In these 
days which are of course trying to you, your army 
and the country it is doubly kind of you to give up 
so much time to me, but on the other hand it beeing 
so, I felt the more proud as I may infer from this 
fact that you count upon me as your real friend as 
you rightly express it. So it is! And I can assure 
you that nobody follows all the phases of the war 
with greater interest and assiduity than I do. Your 
remark about Kouropatkin^ was a perfect revelation 
to me! I am most astonished at his shortsighted- 
ness in not implicitly obeying your commands. He 
ought all the more to have followed your counsels, 
as you had been to Japan yourself, and therefore 
were a much more competent judge of the Japs 
than him. Your warnings were quite right and have 
been fully borne out by the facts. I only hope to 
goodness the General wont jeopardise the final suc- 
cess of your Forces by rashly exposing them to an 
"echec" before the whole of his reserves have joined 

[112] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

him, which are as I believe still partly on the way. 
The old proverb of Napoleon I still holds good ^'la 
victoire est avec les gros Bataillons[' ; one can never 
be too strong for the battle; especially respecting 
the artillery; an absolute superiority must undoubt- 
edly be established to ensure victory. 

I had an interesting conversation about the war 
with the French Milit.-Attache^ who, on my remarks 
that I thought it most astonishing that the French 
as your "AlHes" did not send their Fleet down to 
keep Port Arthur open till your Baltic Fleet had 
arrived, answered that it was true, but that they 
had to reckon with other Powers ! After many hints 
and allusions I found out — what I allways feared 
— that the Anglo-French agreement had the one 
main effect, viz: to stop the French from helping 
you ! II va sans dire, that if France had been under 
the obligation of helping you with her Fleet or 
Army I would of course not have budged a finger to 
harm her; for that would have been most illogical 
on the part of the Author of the Picture *Tellow 
Peril" I 

I am sure England will by times renew her efforts 
to make proposals to you about mediation — it is in 
fact the special mission of Harding^ as I know — , 
though you have allready so strongly repudiated it, 
and which is most presuming in the extreme on her 
part, seeing that the war has only just begun — she is 
afraid for her money, and wants to get Tibet 
cheaply — ; I shall certainly try to dissuade Uncle 

["3] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

Bertie^ as soon as I meet him from harrassing you 
with any more such proposals. Should in the course 
of events mediation seem advisable to you, it is clear 
that the first wish for it must come from you; and 
you may be sure that I shall also allways be at your 
disposal ! I may compliment you on the bravery 
and gallantry of your soldiers and sailors who de- 
serve all praise and who have fought very well! I 
have thought over your suggestion about the Com. 
Treaty^ and talked the matter over with the Chan- 
cellor. We have no special interest respecting the 
place where the negociations should be concluded, 
but as you kindly offer to send Witte over here, we 
will welcome his arrival, and the sooner you invest 
him with your powers to negociate the better for 
our two Countries. I have selected major Count 
Lambsdorf, my personal aide-de-camp, as Milit.- 
Attache. He is instructed by me to consider himself 
as attached to yoicr person solely as it was in the 
days of Nicolai I and Alexander 11. He is only 
responsible in his reports to me personally, and is 
forbidden once for all to communicate with anybody 
else either the Gen. Staff, or Foreign Office, or 
Chancellor. So you may entrust him with any 
message, enquiry, letter etc. for me and make use of 
him in every respect as a direct link between us two. 
Should you like to send me one of your suite who 
enjoys your full confidence, I will receive him with 
pleasure, for I think it highly necessary during these 
grave events, that you should be able to quickly com- 

[114] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

munlcate with me, without the lumbering and indis- 
creet apparatus of Chancelleries, Embassies etc. I 
wonder what I am going to hear from Uncle Bertie 
at Kiel, at all events I shall keep you informed. 
Now good bye dearest Nicky best love to Alix and 
your Mama and God protect you all, that is the 
sincerest wish of 

Ever Your 
most aff-ate friend and cousin 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. At this time the advance of the Japanese on Port Arthur was 
reported to have greatly increased the dissension between Ad- 
miral Alexeiev and General Kuropatkin. The Admiral in- 
sisted that Port Arthur must be saved as a base for the fleet. 
Kuropatkin, on the other hand, declared that he had not 
enough men for a forward movement and consequently he must 
leave Port Arthur to defend itself. 

2. The Marquis de Laguiche, Chef d'Escadron d'Artillerie. 

3. Count Lamsdorf, the Russian Foreign Minister, gave a banquet 
in Petrograd on June 2nd in honor of Sir Charles Hardinge 
(now Viscount Hardinge), the British Ambassador. 

4. King Edward of England. The meeting between the King 
and the Kaiser took place at Kiel on June 26th, 1904. 

5. Count Witte arrived at Norderney to confer with Biilow on 
the Commercial Treaty on July 12th, 1904. The conclusion 
of the treaty on the 28th constituted a great personal triumph 
for Count von Biilow. 

6. Lambsdorff, the Kaiser's aide-de-camp, not to be confused with 
the Russian Foreign Minister, Lamsdorf. 



["5] 



XXXV 

SCHLOSS WiLHELMSCHOHE IQ/VIII I904 

Dearest Nicky 

What a very kind thought that was of yours to 
ask me to be Godfather to your little boy! You can 
well imagine what our joy was when we read your 
telegram announcing his birth !^ "Was lange wahrt 
wird gut"2 says an old German proverb, so may it 
be with this little dear one! May he grow to be a 
brave soldier and a wise and powerful statesman; 
and may Gods blessings allways rest on him and 
preserve him from all harm of body ^nd so^ii. May 
he allways be as a ray of sunshine to you both during 
your life as he is now in the time of trial ! Henry 
is the bearer of these lines and of my sincerest and 
heartfelt wishes for you, Alix and the boy! Ac- 
companied by the gift of a Goblet for my little God- 
child which he will I hope begin to use when he 
thinks that a mans thirst cannot for ever be quenched 
by milk only! Perhaps he may then find out for 
himself one day that "Ein gut Glas Branntewein5 
soli Mitternachts nicht shadlich sein"^ is not only 
a ''truism", but that often "Im Wein ist Wahrheit 
nur allein"^ as the butler sings in "Undine",^ to be 

[116] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

wound up by the classical word of our great Re- 
former Dr. Martin Luther: "Wer nicht liebt Wein, 
Weib and Gesang, der bleibet ein Narr sein Leben 
lang".^ These would be the maxims I would try to 
see my Godchild educated up to ! ! There ist great 
sense in them, and nothing can be said against them I 
The course of the war has been most trying to 
your army and navy and I deeply grieve for the 
loss of so many brave officers and men who fell 
or were drowned in doing their duty, loyally fullfill- 
ing the oath they swore to their Emperor. May 
the reinforcements which are being sent out increase 
the numbers and powers of your army to such a 
extent that the absolute supremacy may be estab- 
lished also in numbers. As far as I could make out 
Kouropatkine has 180,000 men in the field, where- 
as the Japs muster about 250-280,000. This seems 
a disparity still and makes your valiant General's 
task a very heavy one. Should your battleships in 
making their last dash from Port Arthur, '^ not be 
able to reach Wladiwostok on account of injuries 
received in the fight, their best chance is to try for 
Tsingtau, where they will be well looked after till 
the end of the war, instead of beeing blown up or 
sunk; just as well as we will take care of "Zesar- 
ewitch" and the Torp. boats. May next year bring 
better luck when the Army prepared and formed in 
full strength will be able to takle their enemy with 
better chance as there is for the moment; for it 
seems to me that Kouropatkine is still in danger of 

[117] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

beeing cut off from his retreat, which he will have to 
fight for in the direction of Mukden; God grant he 
may get through unscathed. The old saying of 
Napoleon I still holds true "la victoire est avec les 
gros battaillons". 

There is no doubt to me that you will and must 
win in the long run, but it will cost both money 
and many men; as the enemy is brave and well led 
and can only be beaten by overwhelming numbers 
and time and patience. Of course the operations 
of the field army will be easier and will give better 
results, as soon as the Baltic fleet^ will have ar- 
rived on the scene, and forced the Jap. Fleet back 
into their ports, thus restituting the command of the 
sea to you, now lost by the inefficiency of the Ad- 
mirals in command of the Naval Forces at Port 
Arthur. The command of the sea is an absolutely 
necessary equivalent to the final success of the land 
campaign of the army. As it deprives the enemy 
of his base supports, reinforcements etc, which he 
can now use freely for the pouring in of reserves, 
ammunitions, commissariat, evacuation of wounded 
etc. 

When the war broke out in February I worked 
out a plan of Mobilisation^ on my own account 
founded upon the number of Jap. Divisions of ist 
line. These being 10-12 Div. it gives 20 Russ Div. 
absolute supremacy over them, that means 10 army 
Corps. Of these 4 Siberian Corps may be deducted 
as beeing on the spot forming the Manchourian 

[118] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

Army, it leaves 6 Corps to be sent from Russia. 
They would be formed in 2 Armies of j Corps each, 
served by a cavalry corps of 8 brigades with 4 
mounted batteries per Army. That was what I ex- 
pected would be sent out and what would be suffici- 
ent to win with. Leaving the Manchourian Army 
as a sort of advance Guard to mask the arrival of 
the Russian Corps at their base and their formation 
and dislocation as an Army. I did not venture to 
write you my ideas as it is not my business to meddle 
with your affairs, and I was afraid of your telling 
me to mind my own business, as you know better 
what Russia requires. But at this moment the first 
stage of the campaign being practically over I 
thought it might be of interest to you. 

With best love to Alix and the "sunray"^^ I re- 
main Ever Your most devoted 

and aff-ate friend and cousin 

Willy 
A, of A, 



, NOTES 

1. The Czarevitch was born on August 12th, 1904, and chris- 
tened Alexei on August 24th. 

2. The good long looked for comes at last. 

3. A good glass of brandy will do one no harm at midnight. 

4. In wine alone is truth. 

5. One of the most charming German fairy-tales by Friedrich 
de la Motte Fouque, 1777-1843. 

[119] 



Letters from the Kaiser to th e Czar 

6. Who loves not women, wine and song remains a fool his whole 
life long. 

7. On the night of August loth, 1904, a Russian battleship, a 
cruiser and three destroyers escaped from Port Arthur to Tsin- 
Tao, by breaking through the Japanese cordon. 

8. It sailed in October, 1904. 

9. The Kaiser's plan of mobilization was useless in solving Rus- 
sia's difficulties, which were mainly of transportation. Against 
the Japanese army of 520,000 men at the outbreak of the war, 
Russia only had 150,000 troops east of Lake Baikal. Russia't 
problem was how to carry enough men eastward. 

10. Presumably the little Czarevitch. 



[120] 



XXXVI 

HUBERTUSHOHE lO/X I904 



Dearest Nicky 



In order not to lose time I at once telegraphed 
to you after having seen Shebeko.^ I am much 
touched by all the kind messages you sent me 
through him and I see by them that your faith in my 
loyalty is unshaken. It will indeed simplify mat- 
ters vastly, now that Alexejew has been recalled. ^ 
One General who has the absolute command and 
control of all the troops In Mandschuria will I am 
sure answer better to all the requirements of the 
war. Kouropatkine Is It seems popular with his 
troops, and they place full faith in him; that is the 
point most vital for final success. 

Shebeko informed me of your Intention to send 
the Black Sea Fleet out also in conjunction with 
the Baltic Fleet, and asked me to express my opinion 
about this plan. I confess that long since I have 
been expecting this plan to be executed. It is a sound 
military idea and will ensure victory. As to the best 
manner of proceeding, I have after ripely maturing 
the question and after having taken information, 
come to the following conclusion. The best plan 
would be to silently and quietly prepare the Fleet 

[121] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

for Its destination, not to breath a word about your 
intention to anybody and any other Power. Then 
at the moment you think right, calmly and proudly 
steam through the Dardanells. The Sultan — as we 
both know for certain — will not offer the shadow of 
resistance and once you are out, we all shall be vis 
a vis of a fait accompli, which we all shall quietly 
accept. I have not the slightest doubt that England 
will accept it too, though the Press may fume and 
rage, and their Squadrons steam about a little as 
they often do in the Mediterranean. But they wont 
stir in earnest when they see that the rest of the 
Powers remain quiet. The main point is, that it 
must happen quite suddenly and unawares and take 
the whole world by surprise, without letting the se- 
cret out beforehand. Here everything shall be kept 
absolutely mute. 

With your approval I shall sign an order appoint- 
ing Lambsdorff to your suite attached to your per- 
son and you will kindly do the same with Shebako. 

Ever yours aff-ate 

miiy 

Best love to Alix 

NOTES 

1. Colonel Shebeko, Russian Military Attache in Berlin, since 
December, 1901, was appointed personal aide-de-camp to the 
Kaiser by the Czar, in the same way as Count Lambsdorff was 
the Kaiser's representative attached to the Czar's person. 

2. Recalled October 25th, 1904, 

[122] 



XXXVII 

Neues Palais 30/x 1904 

My dear Nicky 

Your kind telegram^ has given me the pleasure to 
feel that I was able to be of some use to you in a 
serious moment. I have at once communicated with 
the Chancellor and we both have secretly— w\t\ioxit 
informing any other person— drawn up the 3 Ar- 
ticles of the Treaty you wished. Be it as you say. 
Let us stand together. Of course the aUiance would 
be purely defensive, exclusively directed against 
European agressor or agressors, in the form of a 
mutual fire insurance company against incendiarism. 
It is very essential that Amerilca should not feel 
threatened by our agreement. Roosevelt, as I know, 
owing to the innate American disHke to all coloured 
races, has no special partiality for Japan, allthough 
England does her utmost to work upon American 
feeling in favour of the Japanese. Besides the 
Americans have a clear perception of the indisput- 
able fact that a powerful Japanese Empire is a last- 
ing danger to the American Philippines. As for 
France, we both know, that the Radicals'and anti- 
christian parties, which for the moment are the 

[1233 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

stronger ones, incline towards England, old Crimean 
traditions, but are opposed to war, because a vic- 
torious General would mean certain destruction to 
this Republic of miserable civilians. The national- 
ists or clerical party dislikes England and has sym- 
pathies for Russia, but does not dream of throwing 
in its lot with Russia in the present war. Between 
these two parties the Republic Government will re- 
main neutral and do nothing, England counts upon 
this neutrality- and upon the consequent isolation of 
Russia. I positively know that as far back as De- 
cember last the French Minister of Finance Rou- 
vier^ from his own accord told the Financial Agent 
of another Power, that on no account whatever 
would France join you in a Russo-Japanese war, 
even if England should take sides with Japan. To 
make these Repubhcans doubly sure, England has 
handed Marocco^ over to France. The absolute 
certainty that France intends to remain neutral and 
even to lend her diplomatic support to England is 
the motive which gives English policy its present 
unwonted brutal assurance. This unheard of state 
of things will change for the better as soon as France 
finds herself face to face with the necessity of choos- 
ing sides and openly declaring herself for Peters- 
burg or London. As I said before, the Radicals 
who gravitate to England abhor war and militarism, 
whereas the Nationalists while not objecting to war 
itself, wont fight for England nor against Russia. 

[124] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

Thus it evidently lies in the interest of both parties 
to bring pressure to bear on and warn England to 
keep the Peace. If you and I stand shoulder to 
shoulder, the main result will be that France must 
openly and formally join us both thereby at last ful- 
filling her treaty obligations towards Russia which 
are of the highest value to us, especially with respect 
to her fine harbours and good fleet, which would 
thereby be at our disposal too. This you may rest 
assured will put an end to made up grievances about 
so called breaches of neutrality. This consumation 
once reached I expect to be able to maintain peace 
and you will be left a free and undisturbed hand 
to deal with Japan. May I add that I sincerely ad- 
mire your masterful political instinct which caused 
you to refer the North-Sea incidant to the Hague 
Tribunal.* For just this systematically distorted 
incident has been used by the French Radicals, 
Clemenceau and all the rest of the tag-rag-and bob- 
tail as a further argument against the necessity of 
France^s fullfilling her Treaty obligations towards 
Russia. Of course before we can take any steps in 
this question and approach France that tiresome 
North Sea incident must have been brought to a 
close. For as, I am informed, Declassee and Cam- 
bon have allready adopted the British view of this 
incident and accordingly fixed the attitude of the 
French Government in a friendly way for England. 
Should we therefore on this question bring pressure 

[125] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

to bear on France, she would no doubt choose the 
British side, just what we dont want her to do. "II 
faut que rincldent de la Mer Noire soit close"^ first, 
then only after that our action may begin. 

I herewith enclose the draft of the Articles of the 
Treaty as you wished, may it meet with your ap- 
proval; nobody knows anything about it, not even 
my foreign Office ; the work was done by Biilow and 
me personally. "Moge Gottes Segen ruhen auf dem 
Vorhaben der beiden hohen Herrscher, und die 
Machtige 3 fache Gruppe, Russland, Deutschland. 
Frankreich fiir immer Europa den Frieden be- 
wahren helfen, das Walte Gott" f those were his 
words when we had finished. 

I send to Suwalki''' in order to salute you on near- 
ing our frontier. General der Infanterie vd. Goltz 
and Oberprasident von Estpreussen von Moltke. 
The former commands the I Army Corps, after 
having been chief of our Engineering Corps; which 
post he filled after his return from Turkey, where he 
spent many years in the fruitless attempts at reor- 
ganisation. The latter is Governor of Eastern 
Prussia, a nephew of the old Field Marshal, and 
brother of my Gen. Adjutant, who commanded your 
Grenadiers and was often kindly received by you, 
when he came in special mission. With best love 
to Alix 

I remain Ever your aff-ate cousin and friend 

Willy 
[126] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 



NOTES 



Undoubtedly the telegram dated October 28th, the text of 
which follows: "Of course you know the first details of the 
North Sea incident from our Admiral's telegram. Naturally 
it completely alters the situation. I have no words to express 
my indignation with England's conduct. I agree fully with 
your complaints about England's behaviour concerning the 
coaling of our ships by German steamers. Whereas she un- 
derstand the rules of keeping neutrality in her own fashion, 
it is certainly high time to put a stop to this. The only way 
as you say, would be that Germany, Russia and France should 
at once unite upon arrangements to abolish English and Jap- 
anese arrogance and insolence. Would you like to lay down 
and frame the outlines of such a Treaty? As soon as it is 
accepted by us France is bound to join her ally." 
Maurice Rouvier, who was Minister of Finance 1902-1905. 
■ He became Premier January 25th, 1905, with M. Declasse as 
Foreign Minister. He was still Prime Minister when the 
Moroccan crisis arose, and M. Declasse resigned as a result 
of German threats. 

The Anglo-French agreement of April 8th, 1904, contained a 
clause in which France recognized British predominance m 
Egypt and Great Britain recognized French influence in Mor- 



occo. 



4 The Czar's proposal that the dispute arising out of the Dogger 
Bank incident should be submitted to an international commis- 
sion of inquiry on the basis of the Hague Convention, was ac- 
cepted by the British Government on October 28th, 1904. 

5 The North Sea incident must be closed. 

6* May the blessing of God rest upon the acts of the two high 
Rulers and may the mighty triple group, Russia, Gerniany and 
France forever help maimain peace in Europe; May God 
bring that about. 

7 The Czar left Petrograd on November 8th, 1904, on a tour 
of military inspection of the western frontier of Russia. Gen- 
eral von der Goltz and Herr von Moltke, Chief President of 
East Prussia, left Berlin for Suwalki on November 9th, and 
lunched with the Czar at Suwalki on November loth. 

[127] 



XXXVIII 

Draft of Treaty 

Leurs Majestes rEmpereur de Toutes les Russies 
et rEmpereur d'Allemagne afin de localiser autant 
que faire se peut la Guerre Russo-Japonalse ont 
arrete les Articles sulvants d'un tralte d'Alliance 
defensive. 

ART. I. 

Au cas our Tun des deux Empires serait attaque 
par une Puissance europeenne son Allie I'aidera de 
Toutes ses forces de terre et de mer. Les deux 
Allies, le cas echeant, feront egalement cause com- 
mune afin se rappeler a la France les obligations 
qu'elle a assumees aux termes du traite d'Alliance 
Franco-Russe. 

ART. II. 

Les deux hautes parties contractantes s'engagent 
a ne conclure de paix separee avec aucun adversaire 
commun. 

ART. III. 

L'engagement de s'entreaider est valable eglae- 
ment pur le cas ou des actes accomplis par Tune des 

[128] 



Lette rs from the Kaiser to the Czar 

deux hautes parties contractantes pendant la Guerre 
tels que la livralson de charbon a un belligerant don- 
neraient lieu apres la guerre a de reclamations d'une 
tierce Puissance comme pretendues violations du 
droit des neutres. 

The following is a translation of the Kaiser's 
original French text reproduced above: 

Their Majesties the Emperor of All the Russias 
and the Emperor of Germany, in order to localize as 
much as possible the Russo-Japanese war, have 
agreed to the following Articles of a treaty of defen- 
sive aUiance. 

ARTICLE I 
In case one of the two Empires should be at- 
tacked by a European Power its ally will aid it with 
all its land and sea forces. The two Allies, in case 
of need, will also make common cause in order to 
remind France of the obligations she has assumed 
by the terms of the Franco-Russian treaty of al- 
liance. 

ARTICLE II 
The high contracting parties undertake not to 
conclude any separate peace with any common adver- 
sary. 

ARTICLE III 
The undertaking to help one another also extends 
to the case where acts, committed by one of the two 

[129] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 



high contracting parties during the war, such as the 
delivery of coal to a belligerant, should give rise 
after the war to complaints by a third Power as to 
pretended violations of the rights of neutrals. 



[130] 



XXXIX 

Neues Palais 17/xi 1904 

Dearest Nicky 

Your kind letter shows once more that the local- 
isation of the actual war and the avoidance of a 
European war are the guiding principle of our mu- 
tual exertions. I take the liberty of abusing of your 
kind permission in our mutual interest to propose 
two changes; one is to modify my proposal, the 
other the final clause of yours. ' 

It may be possible that the sentence "Afin de lo- 
caliser la guerre Russo-Japanaise" if through the 
publication officially or by indiscretion secretly the 
contents of the treaty became known, could be in- 
terpreted by other Powers as meaning that the treaty 
was only valid only in case England went to war as 
Ally of Japan, i.e. directed as a menace of provoca- 
tive meaning solely against her. In reality and prac- 
tically it is so : but "Tout verlte n'est pas bon a dire. 
We now see the British Public opinion in a state of 
nervousness nearly bordering on lunacy, of which it 
has just given us all some delightful proofs.^^ It 
would in this mood look upon this treaty as a direct 
provocation and straightaway urge on the final ca- 

[131] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

tastrophe we both are trying to avoid or to postpone 
at least. Therefore I suggest a sentence used by 
yourself "afin d'assurer la maintien de la Paix en 
Europe", which would answer perfectly to our pur- 
poses and can on no account be looked upon as a 
provocation. We only think of ourselves and re- 
frain from pointing with fingers at anybody (which 
besides is looked upon as a want of manners in so- 
ciety) Nobody — with a clean conscience n.b. — has 
any right to feel annoyed at such a treaty and it will 
be very difficult for the irate Jingoes in England to 
turn its conclusion into a "casus belli". 

This change in the wording of the treaty, to my 
belief, necessitates a certain limitation of time. 
Either a short one with an abrogation limit, at any 
moment of year, or if you like it better a longer 
term. The prolongation would in case — as I fer- 
vently hope — the treaty meets the wishes of and 
proves a boon to the two nations, go on quite by it- 
self automatically. This can be arranged exactly 
as you like it. 

The next change refers to the newly added final 
clause of the treaty. It must be borne in mind that 
should you for instance wish the treaty to remain un- 
pubhshed, indiscretions are possible — walls have ears 
and diplomatists tongues that will wag — under such 
circumstances the meaning put upon this sentence 
would be that I had precisely bound myself to help 
you to defend the Conquests of Russia which would 
tend to immediately replace Article I in a purely ag- 

[ 132] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

gressive light. This would lead the whole political 
world to infer that we had — instead of concluding 
a Defensive Alliance — formed a sort of chartered 
Company limited for Annexation purposes, possibly 
involving secret clauses for the private benefit of 
Germany. The general mistrust ensuing would 
gravely imperil our mutual Situation, because Amer- 
ika would immediately join England — which on no 
account must be allowed — acting under the suspi- 
cion that Russia and Germany were on the move 
for aggressive operations to further selfish ends. 
But it will just be the main task of Russian and Ger- 
man diplomatists to stop America joining England. 
Should the Treaty become known either by official 
publication or indiscretions, Biilow — In answering 
questions In Parliament — must be able to declare 
that no secret clauses exist able to harm the defen- 
sive nature of the treaty or assuring Germany — au 
detriment des autres^ — anything else beyond the help 
in the Defence of the Peace of Europe, if it were en- 
dangered by anybody else. This is why I submit a 
different wording of the sentence. The ruling idea in 
it is the continuous polemic of the Russian Press in 
the last months against a Peace-Congress for me- 
diation, like in 1878 of which your papers are afraid 
that it may be summoned together again — and signs 
there are that some Powers are allready working in 
that direction, especially Paris and London — and 
which would do everything in its power to bring the 
victors and vanquished to one and the same level 

[133] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

and try to rob the former of their conquests and ad- 
vantages as in 1878. Besides this sentence in its 
new form excludes all possibilities once for all for 
Germany ever beeing a party to such a Peace Con- 
gress, and at the same time robs all evil wischers 
and critics of the opportunity to suggest that we 
have any goal in view but that of preserving Peace 
without provocation. These are my two proposals 
I venture to submit to your kind approval, which I 
hope may be accorded to them; intending by them 
to avoid letting England take an active part in this 
war, and if possible to hinder America from join- 
ing her. 

I dont know wether you think it necessary to com- 
municate the secret Clause (III) to France? It is 
quite as you like ; but I believe that the other articles 
will retain her from turning aside. Declasse^ I am 
sure will immediately find out the Anti-Congress ten- 
dency in the sense, and considering that he has all- 
ready opened negotiations between London and 
Paris and with other powers for the summoning of 
a Peace Congress for Meditation, he will be placed 
in a certain difficulty having to suddenly break off 
his negociations allready "entamees."^ 

Doubtless the French would much prefer any 
other grouping of Powers to that of the Alliance 
a trois as in 1895, but the Russo-German Treaty 
once a fact our combined powers will enact a strong 
attraction on France, which you have allready fore- 
seen in your telegram of October 29th when you say 

[134] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

''After the arrangement Is accepted by us, France 
is bound to join." Of course it will be the work of 
your diplomacy to make the necessary arrangements 
with France, Germany in the meantime remaining 
silently standing behind you. The Democratic Civ- 
ilian and Freemasons, Declasse, Combes^ and Cie 
have as much to fear from victory as from rout, and 
the moment they are aware that France would be 
unable to remain neutral and under the necessity 
of choosing sides, they will do all within their power 
to restrain England from going to war. Last not 
least an excellent expedient to cool British insolence 
and overbaring would be to make some military 
demonstrations on the Persio-Afghan frontier,"^ 
where the British think you powerless to appear 
with troops during this war; even should the forces 
at your disposal not suffice for a real attack of India 
itself they would do for Persia — which has no army 
— and a pressure on the Indian frontier from Persia 
will do wonders In England and have remarkably 
quieting Influence on the hot headed Jingoes in Lon- 
don. For I am aware and informed that this is the 
only thing they are afraid of and that the fear of 
your entry into India from Turkestan and into Af- 
ghanistan from Persia was the real and only cause 
that the guns of Gibraltar^ and of the British Fleet 
remained silent 3 weeks ago ! The Indian frontier 
and Afghanistan are the only part of the Globe 
where the whole of her Battlefleets are of no avail 
to England and where their guns are powerless to 

[13s 3 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

meet the invader. India's loss is the death stroke 
to Great Britain! 

This is how I hope that our treaty will fullfill its 
tasks to preserve the Peace of Europe. Should the 
revised draft and the motives submitted meet with 
your approval the signing can be done immediately. 
I expect the Lambsdorff will receive your commands 
for the drawing up of formalities. God grant 
that we may have found the right way to hemm 
in the horrors of war and give his blessing to our 
plans. Believe me dearest Nicky, with best love 
to Alix 

Ever your 
most aff-ate cousin and sincere friend 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. It is not good to tell the whole truth. 

2. The British public was greatly aroused by the Dogger Bank 
incident, which was caused by the firing on British fishing boats 
by the Russian Baltic Squadron on its way to the Far East. 

3. To the detriment of the others. 

4. The French Foreign Minister, one of the creators of the En- 
tente Cordiale. 

5. Begun, initiated. 

6. The leader of the anti-clerical party in France. 

7. In a telegram to the Czar dated November 2nd, the Kaiser 
said: 'Trom a reliable source in India I am secretly informed 
that expedition *a la Thibet' is being quickly prepared for 
Afghanistan. It is meant to bring that country for once and 
all under British suzerainty." 

[136] 



^Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

8. The British concentrated an overwhelming fleet at Gibraltar 
after the Dogger Bank incident, ready to meet in case of emer- 
gency the Russian fleet upon its arrival in Mediterranean 
waters. 



[137] 



XL 

Projet. 

Leurs Majestes les Empereurs de toutes les Rus- 
sies et d'Allemagne afin d'assurer le maintion de la 
paix en Europe ont arrete les articles suivants d'um 
traite d'alliance defensive. 

ARTICLE I. 

Au cas ou Tun des deux Empires serait attaque 
par une Puissance Europeenne, son allie I'aidera de 
toutes ses forces de terre et de mer. Sa Majeste 
TEmpereur de toutes les Russies fera les demarches 
necessaires pour initier la France a cet accord et I'en- 
gager a s'y associer comme Alliee. 

ARTICLE II. 

Les hautes parties contractantes s'engagent a ne 
conclure de paix separee avec aucun adversaire 
commun. 

ARTICLE III. 

Le present Traite restera en vigueur tout qu'il 
ne sera par denonce une Annee a Tavance. 

[138] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 



ARTICLE SECRET. 

Les hautes parties contractantes sont convenues 
de faire cause commune dans le cas ou des actes 
accomplis par une d'elles pendant la guerre (ac- 
tuelle?) tels que la llvraison le charbon a un bel- 
ligerant, donneraient lleux par la suite a des recla- 
mations d'une tierce Puissance comme pretendues 
violations du droit des neutres. 

II resulte des termes du premier alinea de I'article 
I que I'AUemagne ne s'associera a aucune action quel- 
lequ'elle soit qui pourrait impliquer des tendances 
hostiles a la Russie. 

The following is a translation of the Kaiser's sec- 
ond French draft reproduced above: 

Project 

Their Majesties the Emperors of All the Russias 
and Germany, in order to assure the maintenance of 
peace in Europe, have agreed to the following ar- 
ticles of a treaty of defensive alliance: 

ARTICLE I 

In case one of the two Empires should be attacked 
by a European Power its ally will help it with all 
its land and sea forces. His Majesty the Emperor 
of All the Russias will take the necessary steps to 

[139] 



Letters fro m the Kaiser to the Czar 

inform France of this understanding, and to invite 
her to associate herself with it as an Ally. 



ARTICLE II 

The high contracting parties undertake not to 
conclude any separate peace with any common ad- 
versary. 

ARTICLE III 

The present treaty will remain in force so long 
as it shall not have been denounced a year before- 
hand. 

SECRET ARTICLE 

The high contracting parties are agreed to make 
common cause where acts committed by one of them 
during the (present?) war, such as the delivery of 
coal to a belligerent, should give rise in consequence 
to complaints by a third Power as to pretended vio- 
lations of the rights of neutrals. 



[140 J 



XLI 

Berlin 7/xii 1904 

Dearest Nicky 

The British Government, as you will have seen 
in the English press, seems to think the actual mo- 
ment opportune for an action against the provision- 
ing of your Baltic fleet with coal. Under pretext 
that it Is its duty to maintain strlcktest neutrality It 
has forbidden the German vessels^ belonging or 
chartered by the Hamburg-America Line to leave 
British ports. My fears — I wrote to you longer 
ago — that this would happen have at last come true, 
and it is now incumbent upon me to take early steps 
to fix the attitude Germany has to take up vis a vis 
of this action. It is far from my Intention to hurry 
you in your answer to my last remarks about your 
proposal anent our defensive treaty. But you will 
I am sure be fully alive to the fact, that I must now 
have absolutely positive guarantees from you, 
wether you Intend leaving me unaided or not in case 
England and Japan should declare war against me, 
on account of the Coaling of the Russian Fleet by 
Germany. Should you be unable to absolutely guar- 
antee me, that In such a war you will loyally fight 

[141] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

shoulder to shoulder with me, then I regret to assert 
to be under the necessity of immediately forbidding 
German steamers to continue to coal your fleet. 

Alvensleben is under orders to at once elucidate 
the Coaling question with Lambsdorff. 

Best love to Alix. 

Ever your most aff-ate 

cousin and friend 

Willy 



NOTE 

I. It was announced at the time that a German ship had been 
stopped from coaling at Cardiff because its cargo was believed 
to be destined for the Russian Baltic fleet. 



[142] 



XLII 

Neues Palais 21/xii 1904 
Dearest Nicky 

Sincerest thanks for your kind letter and two tele- 
grams, as well as for your kind order regulating the 
coaling question. Of course we are unable today to 
foresee wether the declaration given by your Gov- 
ernment will prove sufficient to meet every kind of 
complication which may arise out of the present run 
of affairs. It is however not my intention to press 
upon you any solution which might appear undesira- 
ble to you. We shall under all circumstances remain 
true and loyal friends. My opinion about the agree- 
ment is still the same; it is impossible to take France 
into our confidence before we two have come to a 
definite arrangement. Loubet^ and Declasse are no 
doubt experienced statesmen. But they not beeing 
Princes or Emperors I am unable to place them — 
in a question of confidence like this one — on the 
same footing as you my equal, my cousin and friend. 

Should you therefore think it imperative to ac- 
quaint the French Government with our negotia- 
tions before we have arrived at definite settlement, 
I consider it better for all parties concerned to con- 

[143] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

tinue In our present condition of mutual indepen- 
dence, and of the spontaneous promotion of each 
others ends as far as the situation will permit. I 
firmly trust and believe that the hopes of our bee- 
ing useful to each other may be realized not only 
during the war, but also after it during the Peace 
negotiations, for our interests In the Far East are 
identical in more than one respect. 

I wish you and Alix with all my heart a merry 
Xmas and a happy New Year, and may the Lord's 
Blessing be on you all, not forgetting the boy. With 
sincerest love to Alix believe me dearest Nicky 

Ever Your 
most aff-ate and devoted cousin and friend 

Willy 



NOTE 
1. Eraile Loubet, President of France. 



[ 144] 



XLIII 

Berlin 2/1 1905 

Dearest Nicky 

Best thanks for your kind letter and New Years 
cards which are well executed. The Cossack charge 
Is most effective, and one cannot help thinking what 
might have happened If at Llao-Yang^ General 
Samsonoff^ had ridden a charge like that with his 
17,000 sabres and lances against the Japan left 
wing. The news of the fall of Port Arthur^ re- 
ceived here yesterday evening created a very great 
sensation. We all here feel deepest sympathy for 
the valiant Generals and the brave diminishing band 
of heroes under their orders who strove to the ut- 
most and last to fullfiU their duty towards their Em- 
peror and their Country; their defence of Port 
Arthur will become proverbial for all ages, and be 
upheld as an example to be emulated as long as a sol- 
dier will exist, honour to them forever! The im- 
minence of the fall of the doomed fortress had for 
some time already set the diplomatic tongues wag- 
ging in the different capitals of the world; many and 
different were the rumours and news of armistices 
and even peace arrangements which reached me 

[145] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

from everywhere. It beeing rather difficult to dis- 
cern truth from invention of phantasy, I hope you 
wont fancy that I intrude upon your privacy, when 
I address myself to you to beg you to tell me what 
your plans for the future are, so that, if possible I 
may make myself useful to you, and be enabled to 
shape my course of my policy. The more so as 
Lambsdorff told Alversleben the other day *'Que la 
France connait deja nos conditions."* Now, I pre- 
fer being informed by yourself directly, instead in a 
round about way through other agencies, as I have 
firmly stood to you and your country from the first 
as your faithful friend. After a long spell of un- 
usually warm and foggy weather which enabled us 
to ride up to Xmas nearly, a very heavy gale sud- 
denly burst upon us followed by sharp frost and 
snow, and winter seems to have set in in earnest, 
this makes me think of the conditions of life through 
which the Armies in Manchuria have to go now, 
remaining stationary for so long time as the months 
gone bye? I am so glad that you rewarded the brav- 
ery of my Regiment, which has greatly distinguished 
itself on the Sha-ho, by so many decorations, I hope 
they also get a good number of St. Georges Crosses 
Now that the programme for the renewal of your 
fleet has been pubHshed^ I hope you wont forget to 
remind your authorities to remember our great firms 
at Stettin, Kiel, etc.; They will I am sure furnish 
fine specimens of line of battle ships. I am so glad 
that Ernie^ has again become engaged and I will go 

[146] 



Letfefrs from tfie Kaiser to the Czar 

to his wedding beginning of next month. I hope 
you will kindly accept the two vases for Xmas, which 
come from our Royal Porcelain Factory, they are 
a symbol of my warmest wishes for you and your 
family and country for the coming year in which 
God may preserve you all believe me Ever your 

most aff-ate cousin and friend 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. August 24th to September 4th. The Japanese left, after heavy 
fighting in which General Samsonoff's cavalry took part, broke 
the Russian right, and captured Liao-Yang, the Russian mili- 
tary capital of Southern Manchuria, and a point of great 
strategic value. 

2. Commanded at the above battle the Siberian Cossack Division. 

3. General Stoessel offered to surrender on January ist, 1905. 
The Kaiser conferred the "Ordre pour le Merite" on both Gen- 
eral Nogi and General Stoessel. 

4. France already knows our conditions. 

5. In the London "Morning Post" of January 2nd, 1905, stating 
that $800,000,000 were to be expended. 

6. After the dissolution of his marriage with Princess Victoria 
of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse, 
was married to Princess Eleonore of Solras-Hohensolms-Lich 
on February 2nd, 1905. 



[147] 



XLIV 

Berlin 15/1 1905 

Dearest Nicky 

The Widow of old Prince Antoine Radzivill, 
Princess Marie,^ is going to St. Petersburg to beg 
for your approval of her late husbands will. Prince 
Antoine was not only a cherished and trusted servant 
of my deceased grandfather as his Adjutant and 
Adjutant General, but also a faithful and beloved 
personal friend to him as well as to my late beloved 
father and to me. His winning ways and his gay 
nature as well as his chivalrous character won him 
friends wherever he was, and your Grandfather and 
father have both allways cherished him. His wife 
was the intimate long-Ufe friend of my late mother, 
and has been made testatrix by her husband for his 
will. The whole future of her children and family 
rests on the fact of your kind approval of the will, 
and I venture to plead her cause to you and to beg 
that you will bestow your kindness on her, as she is 
very sad and broken down by her loss ; this she feels 
the more as her eldest son is an hopeless idiot in 
an Asylum, so that she must look after her Grand- 
children too. — Your Ambassador Osten-Sacken is 

[148] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

In great anxiety on account of his poor old wife. 
She has had a very serious operation made In her 
back — without having been able to use chloroform — 
and Is unable to He down but must spend her nights 
sitting In a chair and suffering terrible pain, so that 
considering her age of 84, her life Is feared for. 
Poor old man, the suspense Is very telling upon him, 
and I am afraid that should she die, he will not be 
able to work as well as formerly and perhaps think 
of retiring. Should a change once take place at your 
Embassy here, I would venture quite privately, to 
ask you to send Isvolsky^ here. He Is one of the 
best men In your Foreign Service, and an Intimate 
friend of long standing of Count Billow's, who 
would be overpleased at having him here, as they 
formerly served together as diplomatists, and as he 
cherishes Isvolsky much. Lastly may I once more 
remind you of your kind promise, twice given, and 
twice put off, that my brother In law Frederic Leo- 
pold could be allowed to join your army. The last 
time In July all was arranged and ready, when he 
was put off, which placed him In a very difficult po- 
sition vis a vis to our army and officers, he beeing 
as we say *'blamlrt," especially so, when Charles 
Hohenzollern left for Japan, which was done, be- 
cause we thought Fr. Leopold would leave for Muk- 
den too. Now the people point at Fr. Leopold and 
the poor fellow is awfully crestfallen; he has bought 
lots of clothes and things and made every effort of 
preparations and even learnt your tongue and will 

[149] 



^Let ters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

in no way be of any hindrance to your generals, as 
he is a quiet man; as the army is large and powerful 
I think that It does not matter if he goes, so I ven- 
ture again to ask wether you can permit him to go? 
With excuse for bothering you with all these 
matters, but they are better arranged between our- 
selves and best love to Allx I remain 

Ever your most aff-ate cousin and friend 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. Princess Marie Radziwill des marquis de Castellane was the 
widow of Prince Antoine Radziwill who died in Berlin on 
December i6th, 1904. 

2. M. A. P. Izvolsky was Russian Minister at Copenhagen 1902- 
1906, and in May, 1906, he succeeded Count Lamsdorf as For- 
eign Minister. In 1910 he became Ambassador in Paris, where 
he died on August i6th, 1919. 



[150] 



XLV 

Berlin 6/ii 1905 
Dearest Nickf 

Your kind letter reached me on the morning of 
my birthday so early that your wishes were the first 
I received. Please accept my warmest thanks for 
them and God grant they may be fuUfilled! Your 
letter reached me In a moment of dire anxiety, for 
just then my poor boy^ was seriously ill and it was 
then a matter of life and death ! The whole follow- 
ing week was a terrible trial and my poor wife suf- 
fered agonies watching near the bedside of the pa- 
tient; thanks be to God that he heard our prayers 
and saved our boys life ! 

My brother In law^ is deeply grateful for your 
kind permission accorded to him that he may at 
last start for the front. On his way out he is to 
report himself to you and give you these lines. His 
entourage has been limited as you wished and he is 
instructed to keep quite In the background, so as 
to In no way hamper the Commander in Chief, and 
he begs that the latter may take no undue notice 
of him, and not to forget that he is a simple spec- 
tator who wants to learn the art of war earnestly. 

[151] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

You have been through serious troubles^ from 
the effervescence and agitation among the lower 
classes ; I am glad your soldiers showed themselves 
reliable and true to their sermon^ to their Emperor. 
The reception of the deputation of workmen^ — who 
seem to have been ill advised and partially goaded 
Into striking by agitators — made a good impression 
everywhere, as It showed them that they could see 
In the face of their "Vaterchen"^ if they asked for 
this honour In due form ! Many and most vague are 
the plans for reform In your country — as far as I 
can make out — but the most sensible and best adapt- 
ed to Its people and their customs, seems to my 
humble notion, the formation of a body of men 
chosen from the best and ablest heads In the differ- 
ent "Zemstovs.'* This body would be attached to 
the ^'Imperial Council" and to it could be given any 
question of Importance having a vital interest for 
the whole of Russia to be worked out and prepared 
for the ^'Imperial Council"; also men well versed 
with the special theme under discussion, could be 
called upon to give their advice, beeing chosen from 
every part of the people ad hoc. And the comhle'^ 
would be If you from time to time presided yourself 
so as to be able to hear as many different men as pos- 
sible. In order to be able to form a correct judgment 
on the question before them. Just like I did In 1890,^ 
when I called in the great Comittee for the elabo- 
ration of the ^'Social Laws" for the working classes, 

[152] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

after the great Strike — and which I presided for 
weeks. In this manner this body would be able to 
provide the "Imperial Council" with every infor- 
mation it wants, enabhng you in the same time to 
remain in touch with the great bulk of the lower 
classes; thereby ensuring to the latter every means 
to make themselves heard in matters appertaining 
to their welfare and thus forming a direct canal of 
communication between the simple folk and their 
"Emperor and Father." Besides you would be able 
— on account of your own information — to keep 
good watch and control on your "Imperial Council" 
and the "Comittee of Ministers" to see the work 
by them is done as you wish and you people want; 
this way ensures the executive once for all to the 
^^autocratic Czar'* not to a leading fninister with a 
board of helpless Colleagus blindly following his 
lead. 

On my birthday my tallest aide-de-Camp — weU 
known to you — H. v. Pliiskow — in Paris the ladies 
called him "Plus que haut" !^ — has been made Col- 
onel of your Alexander Grenadiers; they gave the 
Guard of Honour for my birthday "Razwod"^^ and 
looked magnificent, as you will see on the enclosed 
photos. In due time — when things have calmed 
down and it suits you — the new Colonel will report 
himself to you. 

As I heard that Serge had mentioned that your 
authorities were annoyed with Krupp for not keep- 

[153] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

ing his time to furnish the batteries ordered by Rus- 
sia I caused an inquiry to be made at his works and 
send you the copy of the report I received, showing 
that there is no grounds for the above mentioned 
complaints. Inquiries made at the Offices of the 
Hamb. Americ. Line equally show that the rou- 
mours to the effect, that they have taken guns and am- 
munition out in their ships for Japan, is totally un- 
founded; they have not taken arms or stores of war 
of any kind to or for Japan. It seems that the clouds 
of French and English Agents besieging the Admir- 
alty and War Office — angry at our firms furnishing 
your Government well and better than theirs are 
able — are starting no ends of canards ''au detri- 
ment" of the Germans; I venture to suggest they 
should be less beheved and kicked into the Newa 
besides. 

The Japs have just ordered 4 Line of Battle- 
ships in England; they are to be copies of the newest 
type in England between 1 8000-19000 Tons with 
25 cm. guns as medium artillery and 30 cm. guns as 
heavy artillery. With best wishes for a better out- 
look for you and your country and much love to Alix 

I remain ever Your 

most aff-ate cousin and friend 

Willy 

P.S. End of next month we shall take our boy to 
the Mediterranean and to Sicily. 

[154] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 



NOTES 

1. Prince Eitel Friedrich, the Kaiser's second son, had been suf- 
fering from inflammation of the lungs. 

2. Prince Frederic Leopold reached Petrograd however, only to 
be sent back to Berlin instead of Manchuria. 

3. A reference to the Bloody Sunday, January 9-22, when a ter- 
rible massacre of the people who had gathered to present a 
petition to the Czar in front of the Winter Palace took place. 

4. The Kaiser apparently confused the word "sermon" with the 
French word "serment," which means "oath." 

5. The Czar received later, on February ist, a deputatloh of 
workmen, to appease the anger caused by the massacre of the 
petitioners. 

6. Little Father. 

7. Climax. 

8. The Kaiser is alluding to the beginning of his reign, when 
for a time he posed as the Arbeiter-Kaiser, the Workmen's 
Emperor, and called an international congress to Berlin for 
the benefit of the German workers in March, 1890. 

9. A pun on Pliiskow's name. In the Great War Pliiskow, now 
a Lieutenant-General, commanded the 25th division. 

10. Parade. 



[155 I 



XLVI 

Berlin 21/11 1905 

Dearest Nicky 

Fritz Leopold has just returned with your kind 
wishes and compliments, deeply impressed by your 
extreme kindness affability as well as by the hand- 
some reception you gave him. How glad I am to 
hear from him, that you are well, calm selfcomposed 
and hard at work, and that dear Allx and the chil- 
dren are all right. It is so much easier to work at 
a difficult task, when one knows, that those one 
loves are well. I am glad I was able to meet your 
wishes by sending Fr. Leop. to Asia by sea ! Your 
Railways are hereby left unhampered! What ter- 
rible tidings have come from Moscow!^ These 
beasts of anarchists have perpetrated a dark and 
dastardly deed. Poor Ella,^ what a fearful blow 
it must have been for her may God grant her 
strength and devotion to bear it! It is very hard 
for the fine old capital of Russia, that her walls 
should have been soiled by so foul a crime but surely 
she harbours no true citizen drawing a breath who 
can approve of It! I cannot believe that these de- 
mons have rlzen from the ranks of your Mosko- 

[156] 



tXj U#>A i9ftUtut lUaiMAM al.|M-^ , ' mi Mu. 4*«i*^H4..Htai)^*iM. 




^.ISrU:. -IX ^ ^ iwuk €aAW C" weft ^£4, ^U'fc^^tut ^-iJW^?*^ 

|fU«4ia jttuiiA i^^ W hmA 0^ udl . ;i tu*ct|tw '4 u«4 stWl t^MoJlcMk 4?^ k 












"dearest NICKY FROM HIS AFFECTIONATE FRIEND WILLY" 

The cousinly familiarity between the Kaiser and the Czar is shown by letter 
No. XLVI in which the Kaiser takes a fling at the Russian anarchists that he 
later encouraged. 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

vite subjects, they were probably foreigners from 
Geneva. For the great bulk of your people still 
place their faith In their "Vaterchen" the Czar and 
worship his hallowed person. I have gained this 
conviction from my close observation of the differ- 
ent phases of the movement In Russia as far as I 
was able from the news coming directly from there 
and by the opinions expressed by observers, or 
sometimes Russians, In the European Press. 

The Russian movement is, as you may well im- 
agine, uppermost In all conversations and correspon- 
dence not only In Russia but also without. The 
whole European Press Is flooded with articles about 
Russia, their opinions depending on the standpoint 
of the Party they belong to. In this manner a — 
so to say — European point of view has emanated, 
which seems fairly correct rendering of the public 
opinion of om Continent. Now I thought that it 
might perhaps be of some Interest to you — In your 
solitude at Tsarske — ^to have an Idea of this Euro- 
pean opinion, and to hear how the events in your 
country are judged by what one sometimes calls the 
"civilized World" In general. I shall therefore in 
the following lines try to draw a little sketch for you 
of the ^'reflected Russian picture" as seen from out- 
side. Of course as the People outside your country 
are not Initiated to the details of the Intricate ques- 
tions at issue In Russia they often combine or infer 
from an effect they see — without knowing Its cause 
— and therefore often a wrong combination will 

[157] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

lead to a wrong conclusion, because their Ignorance 
of the true facts have left a breach. The foreign 
spectators are often forced to "Jump to conclusions," 
but we must add: "Wo die Begrlffe fehlen, stellt 
oft ein Wort zu rechter Zelt sich eln."^ 

Therefore I must "avant tout"* beg your pardon 
for writing to you things that you will probably 
since long have learned from your diplomats reports, 
and crave your kind forbearance and forgiveness if 
I — as a loyal firm and devoted friend of yours am 
obliged to do — also must record opinions, which 
may seem to you hard, ungenerous, false or even 
hurt your feelings. But Russia is in the act of 
turning over a new leaf In her history, and the de- 
velopment shows a tendency to prepare the begin- 
ning for a certain modernization. 

Such a process, you will agree, in a mighty nation 
like yours Is bound to command the most widespread 
interest in Europe, and "comme de ralson" before 
all In the neighbouring country. The methods to be 
adopted, the means which are to be used, and the 
men who are to do the work have direct Influence 
across your frontiers, upon the other nations. If I 
said that the "opinion" was a "European" one I 
must not omit the fact that many Russians who have 
passed through here in the last months, and all those 
living all over Europe — especially In Paris and 
France — have also contributed to lend colour to the 
picture; so that the facts forming the base for the 
"European opinion" mostly are supplied by France, 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

who as *'amie et AUlee"^ is allways the best informed 
about Russia. The outcome of it is this: 

*'0n dit:" The Regime Mirski^ too suddenly al- 
lowed the Press a greater liberty than before and 
dropped the reins — so tightly held by Plehwe — too 
soon. Hence a sudden flood of unheard of articles 
and open leters addressed to the Ruler, a thing 
up to then thought impossible in Russia; some of 
them most insolent calculated to diminish the respect 
for the Autocratic Rule. This opportunity was 
seized by the Revolutionary Party to get hold of 
the unsuspecting workpeople, to work them up into 
a state of ferment and to make them demand things 
— they were incapable of understanding — in a per- 
emptory, disrespectful manner accompanied by lan- 
guage and acts which came very near looking like 
revolution. This brought the working class — I am 
sure against their will — into direct opposition to the 
Government and into conflicts with the Authorities, 
who had to maintain law and order. As these mis- 
guided and ill informed bands, mostly composed of 
men taught to look at the Zar as their "Father" and 
to "tutoyer"''' him as such, were under the impression 
that they would be able to place their wishes before 
him by coming before his Palace, it is suggested that 
It might have been practical of the Zar had received 
a certain number of them — drawn up in the square 
amid a cordon of troops — and had addressed them 
from the Balcony of the Winter Palace, where he 
would have been accompanied by the highest Clergy 

[159] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

and the Cross and his suite as a "Father" speaks to 
his children, before the Military had to act; it were 
perhaps not impossible that in this manner blood- 
shed might have quite been avoided or at least di- 
minished. 

The example of Nicolai I has been often quoted, 
who quelled a very serious rebellion by personally 
riding into their midst his child in his arms, and 
brought the rebels to their knees in short time. It 
Is thought that now, as then, the person of the Zar 
has still an enormous hold on the simple people, and 
that they still bow down to his hallowed appearance. 
A word from such a position and in such an "entour- 
age" would have awed and calmed the masses and 
sounded far away over their heads into the farthest 
corner of the Realm surely defeating the agitators. 
These are still more or less said to be in command 
of the masses because such a word has not yet been 
spoken by the Ruler. The Agitators consequently 
are continuing their game on the imagination of the 
people in maintaining: "It is His wish, he thinks 
so, but you cannot hear him because of the bands 
of officials who manage to fence him off and keep 
him far away from his people." The beguiled 
masses follow and believe these men til it is too late, 
and blood must flow. 

Many reforms have been begun, and new laws 

are being discussed in batches, but curiously enough 

the People generally say: "This is by Witte, that is 

inspired by Mouravioff, that is Pobed.^ idea." But 

[i6o] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

the Zar Is never named for they are unaquainted 
with his real thoughts! Though the Committee of 
Ministers or the Senate Issue the Manifestoes in the 
Zars name yet these bodies are much to vague and 
mysterious to the looker on as to evoke anything 
like enthusiasm or interest with their acts. In an 
Autocratic Regime, It is argued, It must be the Ruler 
himself who gives out the password and the pro- 
gramme of action in a unmistakable official way. It 
seems that every body is expecting something of fhls 
sort by way of an act of will by the Zar personally. 
As long as this does not happen the Impression at 
large will continue, that the announced reforms and 
law paragraphs are only ministerial work meant for 
show and to throw sand Into the peoples eyes; and 
men will continue to anxiously miss the firm hand on 
the country's helm, guided by a master mind with a 
clear purpose, steering for a clearly defined goal. 
This state of things creates a feeling of uneasiness 
which In its turn evolves dissatisfaction generating 
fault finding "a tort et a travers" on a grand scale 
even with the mildest man of the very best Intentions 
and actuated by the sincerest and purest motives. 
In consequence the disappointed spectator — ^perhaps 
also the subjects — is more and more prepared to 
throw on the Zar's shoulders the responsibility for 
everything with which they are dissatisfied. In or- 
dinary times this matters very little, and in consti- 
tutional Nations It is not as dangerous, as the Kings 
Ministers have to mount the breach and to defend 

[i6i] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

his person. But In Russia, where the ministers are 
unable to shield the sacred person of the Ruler, as 
they are known to be his tools simply, such troubles 
which fill the Russians minds with unrest and un- 
easiness, and which lead to the saddling of the Ruler 
with the odium for everything disagreeable that hap- 
pens, are a very serious danger for the Ruler and 
his dynasty, because they tend to make him unpopu- 
lar. Now it is argued that the "Intelllgentia" and 
the Society in parts are allready dissatisfied, should 
the Zar also become ^'unpopular'' with the masses 
the agitators might easily raise such a storm that it 
would be very uncertain, wether the Dynasty would 
be able to weather It. 

On one point all seem to agree in Europe as by 
common "consensus" that the Zar personally Is 
solely responsible for the war. The outbreak, the 
surprise caused by the sudden attack, the evidence 
of want of preparation Is said to be his fault. They 
say that the thousands of families who have lossed 
their male relatives by the war or must miss them 
for long months lay the blood and their complaints 
at the steps of the Zar's throne. It is maintained 
that the Reservists called out to leave their homes, 
do it reluctantly detesting to fight in a country whose 
existence they did not know of, and for a cause 
which is unpopular to them. They are careworn 
when they think of their wife and children they leave 
behind, slowly sinking Into poverty and helpless 
misery they lay their anguish and their cares at the 

[162] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

door of the Zar's Palace wishing he had left them 
at home. 

The reports from the Foreign and Russiar Cor- 
respondents with the Army show it fighting an up- 
hill fight against a most redoubtable foe. It had 
to begin war under very diflicult circumstances, not 
having had time to properly prepare for the task, 
under the disadvantage of inferior numbers with 
which it was unable to stem the inrushing tide of 
mishaps and to meet the terrible onslaught of a foe 
known to have been preparing for this action during 
the last five years. For all this the Zar is thought 
to be responsible. Also the fearful losses of the 
Navy are shouldered upon him. 

Now the responsibility for a war is a very serious 
thing for a Ruler, that I know by experience from 
what my late Grandfather told me. He a man per- 
sonally of the mildest and most peaceful disposition 
and allready in old age was called upon to wage 3 
wars during his reign ! And for each of them he 
took the full responsibility. But he had a clear con- 
science and his people loyally and enthusiastically 
supported him; the whole nation rising like a man 
and resolved to win or die, victory or destruction, 
but fight to the end; he and his subjects felt that 
Providence was on their side, and that it is as good 
if victory was allready won. Such wars then are 
easy to be borne for the Ruler because his whole 
People share the burden with him. But the respon- 
sibility for an unpopular war is quite a different 

[163] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

matter; when the glow of flaming patriotism is un- 
kindled and when the nation as a whole takes no 
willing part in it, and suddenly sends its sons to the 
front because the Zar so wills it, but without making 
his cause their own that is a fearful and heavy load 
to bear; whose weight can only be lightened by the 
pureness of motives which give the Ruler the clear- 
ness of conscience necessary to enable him to expect 
his subjects to fight for him even if they are unable 
to discern the motive themselves 

These words must seem very strange to you and 
I hear you ask with astonishment "The war unpop- 
ular! Impossible!" I can only answer that the 
amount of private correspondence received in France 
leaves no doubt that it is so. 

The war is very unpopular with all classes in 
Russia the officers not excepted especially as vic- 
tories have up to now been denied to the Russian 
arms. The impression rests with the officers of the 
French Army — your Allies — that even the confi- 
dence in Kouropatkine is beginning to give way, and 
as if the harmony, essential to success, between the 
different commanders of the Russian forces left 
much to be desired. If true this state of things 
would hamper the operations and jeopardize the 
chances for victory; and it is necessary that it should 
be remedied to and that soon, or the army and its 
discipline would suffer by it otherwise. The solu- 
tion I own is most difficult. 

It seems however that it is generally agreed to, 

[164] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

that Kouropatkine has more talents for a Chief of 
the Staff under another General as leader, than to be 
a leader himself, as he Is rather slow and lacking 
somewhat in the element called the "Offensive"; 
this leader is difficult to find as the Generals, senior 
to Kouropatkine are mostly too old and out of the 
ranks since long; besides it would be doubtful, 
wether he would assent to such a change. On the 
other hand his knowledge, it is said, of the country, 
enemy, their mode of fighting, of the feeding and 
caring for the army are quite invaluable and cannot 
be missed from the field. The result of all this pon- 
dering is, that people begin to hint that the Zar 
himself might perhaps personally take over the 
Command in Chief, and joining his brave troops, 
restore their confidence, cheer them by taking his 
share of hardships, electrify them by his presence 
and preserve the services of Kouropatkine for his 
troops, as he would act as chief of the Staff to his 
*'war lord.'' As I have shown above, there is — one 
may say — a slowly rising sort of a tide of misinter- 
pretation, unrest and disobedience which must evi- 
dently be stemmed and calmed down ; and the Euro- 
pean Public as well as the Russian Nation is instinc- 
tively looking toward the Zar, and expecting that he 
will come forth and do something grandly, a great 
personal act; meant to show all that he is the Auto- 
cratic Ruler of his People and willing to allay their 
anxieties and pains as far as is in his power. This 
general expectation Is very neatly put into words by 

[ 165 ] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

someone who said: "II faut que TEmpereur fasse 
on grande acte pour affermir son pouvoir de nou- 
veau, et sauvegarder sa dynastle qui est menacee, il 
faut qu'il paye de sa personne" !^ But how?! After 
what I wrote about the war, you are perfectly at 
liberty to ask another question: "Why is the war un- 
popular, why does it seem that I am not backed by 
my whole People, why do they lack enthusiasm for 
the fight. We were attacked and our flag insulted, 
and we have to fight for its honour and our pres- 
tige?!!" The Foreign observers fancy there is an 
answer forthcoming. It is this. In former times 
your forefathers before they went to war used to 
repair to Moscow, pray in the old churches and then 
assemble the Notables in the Kremlin inside, and the 
People outside in the courtyard and announce to 
them with great ceremony the necessity for the war 
and called upon their loyal subjects to follow them 
to the field battle. Such a call from the Kremlin in 
Moscow — which is still the real capital of Russia — 
never failed to find a response from the Russian 
Nation! Such an act, such a call to arms was ex- 
pected by Moscow and Russia from you in the days 
following the 8th of February of last year, and they 
then were ready to answer with enthusiasm smart- 
ing under the fell blow, which had fallen on them 
unawares, and the Citizens of the great Capital 
looked eagerly forward for your coming; it Is even 
hinted that the oflicials had your train got ready for 
starting. But the Zar came not. Moscow was left 
[i66] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 



to Itself; the ''holy war" eagerly expected was not 
proclaimed, and there was no call to arms. This 
Moscow looked upon as a slight, and smarted under 
it. It has become disaffected and shows her disaf- 
fection openly, her example beeing followed all over 
Russia. The other day the remark was made 'II 
est temps que I'Empereur remette la main sur Mos- 
cou; avec Moscou il parviendra a remettre I'ordre 
en Russie, sans Moscou, cela sera tres difficile."^^ 
Well European observers think that it could be man- 
aged, that the Zar could make the expected "Grande 
acte" by going to Moscow and assembhng the nobil- 
ity and notables in his magnificent Palace speak to 
them; perhaps beginning with a reprimand for pub- 
lishing letters and addresses sent to him, which is 
bad manners and must not be repeated, and then 
proclaim the reforms he has prepared for his People 
as far as he thinks fit. Not the promise of a general 
legislative assembly, no Constituante or Convention 
Nationale, but a Habeas Corpus Act and wider ex- 
tension of the Conseil de I'Empire. No liberty of 
the assembly or of the Press, but strict orders to all 
censors to abstain from any chicanes henceforth. 
Further the Zar would let the hearers know what he 
has decided about the army — in case he thinks it 
possible or necessary to go out himself — to tell tham 
and to exhort them to abstain from all internal quar- 
rels till the enemy is routed. After this the Zar 
*'entoure" by the Clergy with banners and cross and 
incense and holy Icons would go out on the balkony 

[167] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

and read out the same speech he held before, as a 
Manifestoe to his assembled loyall subjects In the 
Court Yard below, encircled by the serried ranks of 
the troops "la bajonette au canon" "le sabre au 
polng".^^ When you would tell tham that you — in 
case you thought it necessary — would go to share 
the hardships of their brothers and relatives in the 
field, who had to go out by your command, and to 
cheer them and try to lead them to victory j It is ar- 
gued that the People will be deeply touched and 
cheer you and fall on their knees and pray for you. 
The Zar's popularity would be recovered and he 
would gain his peoples sympathy besides. All per- 
sons who take an Interest In the Russian events are 
unanimous In their opinion that ''a la longue" the 
Zar must not remain in perpetuum in Tsarske or 
Peterhof ; but that It Is sure that should his first ap- 
pearance be made under the above mentioned con- 
ditions, the sensation and Impression created in the 
whole world would be enormous, which would with 
bated breath listen to him when he addressed it, as 
his forefathers formerly did, from the Ramparts of 
the Kremlin. 

This dearest Nicky Is the sketch which I have 
drawn of the European Public opinion with respect 
to the events in Russia. In the beginning I have 
given you the reasons why I thought It my duty to 
write these lines. I once more crave your pardon 
for having taken up your precious time and in case 
I should sometimes have been to personal in my re- 

[i68] 



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* ikAA iiVJ^i ^m AA^ u. ~A 1 i^^ i^^w*t»| fcr 

"-''M jybi Xf /OmJIL teUl i'm^ . liMxt WW^ ^-^-^ ^M" |U^. . . . 






■iu^ 4^- *!' 






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W 



LETTER NO. XLVI 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

port. But as your loyal friend I am a jealous 
watcher of your ''renommee" In this world and I 
wish you should by It be rightly and justly judged; 
and that Is my duty too to inform you of the opin- 
ions the world forms on your account so as to enable 
you to correct them by your acts if you feel so in- 
clined. At all events ''Honny solt, qui mal y 
pense".^^ 

With sincerest wishes for the welfare and future 
of your country and house, and best love to Allx, and 
the wish that God may bless and protect you all be- 
lieve me dearest Nicky as allways 

Your most aff-ate cousin and friend 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. Grand Duke Sergei, uncle of the Czar, Governor-General of 
Moscow, was assassinated at Moscow on February 17th, 1905. 

2. Wife of the assassinated Grand Duke Sergei and sister of 
the Czarina. 

3. Where understanding is lacking, a word at the right time 
will help. 

4. First of all. 

5. Friend and ally. 

6. After the assassination of von Plehwe, the reactionary Rus- 
sian Minister of the Interior, Prince Swiatopol-Mirski, a lib- 
eral, was appointed to his post. 

7. To be on familiar terms with him. 

8. Constantine Petrovitch Pobedonostzev, the famous Russian 
statesman. 

9. The Emperor should perform a great act in order to affirm 

[169] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

his power anew and safeguard his menaced dynasty, he should 
take a personal risk. 

10. It is time that the Emperor again should put his hand on 
Moscow; with Moscow he will be able to restore order in 
Russia, without Moscow that will be very difficult. 

11. With bayonets fixed and drawn sabres. 

12. "Evil to him who evil thinks." The Kaiser misspelled the 
French word "honni." 



[170] 



XLVII 

Berlin 3/vi 1905 

Dearest Nicky 

The kind lines which you entrusted to Micha's 
care and were given me yesterday have deeply 
touched me. The memorable events you allude to 
are all clearly graved in my memory and remind me 
how the years have gone by, and how often since long 
we two have been brought into pergonal relations. 
The natural consequence of this is a firm feeling of 
mutual friendship that developed between us both 
based on a perfect understanding of each other. 
These relations have flourished through the long 
years for the welfare of our countries, to rule which 
we have been called upon by Providence. They 
were and I hope will continue to be guarantees of 
Peace and welfare for the two countries as well as 
for the world. I well remember the moment in the 
church in the Winter Palais when you took your 
oath on the glorious tatters of the old Cossack 
standard, and the breathless silence of an enormous 
audience of illoustrious people ! How moved your 
dear father was when he kissed you after the cere- 
mony ! How long ago that is I Now you are in 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

his place and have to lead your country through one 
of the most difficult phases of its development. How 
I have been feeling for and thinking of you all these 
last months I need not say! Also of every phase 
of Admiral Roshestwensky's progress! The great 
stake which he represented in your hand has been 
played and honnourably lossed.^ He did every- 
thing in his powers to come up to your wishes, but 
Providence willed it otherwise and he met defeat 
bravely serving his master to the last! My fullest 
sympathy is with him and you. 
< From the purely military strategical point of view 
the defeat in the straits of Corea ends the chances 
for a decided turn of the scales in your favour; the 
Japanese are now free to pour any amount of re- 
serves, recruits, ammunition, etc. into Mandschuria 
for the siege of Wladiwostok, which will hardly be 
able to resist very long without a fleet to support it.^ 
The Army of Lenewitsch^ will need at least 3 or 4 
fresh Army Corps to bring it up to its former effi- 
ciency and even then it is difficult to foretell what 
the consequences will be and wether another large 
battle will promise more success than the former 
did? Formally it of course possible, even under 
these adverse circumstances to continue the war for 
any amount of time. , But then on the other hand 
the human part must not be overlooked. Your coun- 
try has sent thousands of its sons to the f ronte, where 
they died, or were taken ill and were left cripples 
for the rest of their Hves. Now as I wrote to you 
[172] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

in my last letter — Febr. 6th. — the war Is very un- 
popular and the People see their sons and fathers 
reluctantly even unwilling leave their homes to fight 
for a cause they not only not espouse but abhor ! Is 
It compatible with the responsibility of a Ruler to 
continue to force a whole nation against its declared 
will to send its sons to be killed by hecatombs only 
for his sake? Only for his way of conception of 
National honour? After the People by their be- 
haviour have clearly shown their disapproval of a 
continuance of the war? Will not in time to come 
the life and blood of all uselessly sacrificed thou- 
sands be laid at the Ruler's door, and will he not 
once be called upon by Him the Ruler and Master 
of all Kings and men to answer for those, who were 
placed under his control by the Creator, who en- 
trusted their welfare to him? National honour is 
a very good thing in itself, but only in the case that 
the whole of the Nation itself is determined to up- 
hold it with all the means possible. But when a 
nations ways show that it has enough and that "tout 
est purdu fort I'honneur"^ is its way of thinking, is 
it not reasonable that also its Ruler should then — 
no doubt with a heavy heart — draw the conse- 
quences and conclude peace? Even though it be a 
bitter one? Rather than risking through the pro- 
longation of an unpopular war to create such a bit- 
ter feeHng in his country that it would not even re- 
frain from taking serious steps to eventually force 
the Ruler to comply to their wish and adopt their 

[ 173 ] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

views? Of course there is the Army to be consid- 
ered. It has fought and bravely fought — ^through 
heat and cold for 1-1/2 years trying to win victoria 
for you and your country, but up to now Providence 
has withheld success from it. Defeat, fearful loss 
of life, and sufferings unspeakable have instead been 
sent to the poor Army and have been willingly borne 
by those capital, brave, quiet, selfsacrificing fellows 
your soldiers. That they should burn for revange 
and be ready to do battle at every possible moment 
is quite natural. But is there any new leader or 
General among the Captains who is able to guaran- 
tee success, so that it would justify a new tremen- 
dous effort at the expense of thousands of the sol- 
diers lives? Is the Army really absolutely convinced 
that it will yet be able to turn the scales? To this 
question you of course alone are able to know the 
answer. Should the answer however be given in 
the negative by your Generals in your soldiers name, 
declaring on their honour that they could only die 
for their Emperor but hardly win any decisive vic- 
tories for him, then I think your conscience may be 
at rest as to wether you ought to go on fighting or 
not, and you could open the Peace negociations which 
would be hailed with joy by all your loyal subjects 
throughout Russia after the tribute of blood they 
readily gave their Emperor. You may then say like 
the old French Grenadier Bombardon sings: "Das 
Gliick des Kriegs hat wider uns entschieden, doch die 
Armee hat ihre Pflicht gethan, die halfte fiel, der 

[174] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

Rest ward Invallden! Je nun man tragt was man 
nicht andern kann" !* 

Napoleon I and Fredrick the Great also suffered 
defeat! 

It must be looked upon as Gods will that things 
have taken this course ! God has imposed this bur- 
then on you, and it must be borne, but perhaps by 
His intentions and with His help, lasting good may 
come out of all this in the end; a new life and a new 
order of things for the development of Russia may 
spring from this time of trial which would be a 
recompence your subjects richly deserved. 

Forgive the length of my letter, but I feel bound 
as your friend and collegue to tell you what I think 
is true and right! You know the motives that 
prompt me, and you are free to do with these lines 
what you think fit. 

Should however the ideas propounded in this let- 
ter coincide with yours and you think that I could 
be of any even smallest use to you for the prepara- 
tory steps to bring about Peace, pray dispose of me 
at your leisure. I may perhaps turn your attention 
to the fact that no doubt the Japanese have the high- 
est regard for America before all other nations. Be- 
cause this mighty rising Power with its tremendous 
fleet is next to them. If anybody in the world is able 
to influence the Japanese and to induce them to be 
reasonable In their proposals, it Is President Roose- 
veldt.^ Should it meet with your approval I could 
easily place myself — privately — en rapport with 

[175] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

him, as we are very Intimate; also my ambassador 
there is a friend of his. Besides you have Mr. 
Meyer^ whom I know since years, who has my full- 
est confidence you may send for him, talk with him 
openly, he most discret and trustworthy, a charm- 
ing causeur with agreeable manners! Here the 
Brides Entry"^ took place in splendid weather and 
amidst great enthusiasm! Best love to Alix from 
your 

Aff-ate friend and cousin 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. The Russian Baltic Fleet, under Admiral Rozhdjestvensky, was 
disastrously defeated on May 27-28 by the Japanese fleet under 
Admiral Togo in the Straits of Korea. 

2. General Linievitch was appointed commander-in-chief of the 
Russian army after Kuropatkin's retirement. 

3. All is lost save honor. 

4. The fortune of war has gone against us, but the army did its 
duty; one-half fell, the rest became invalids. What cannot 
be altered must be borne. 

5. Two days before this letter was written, President Roosevelt 
conferred with the Japanese Minister, Takahira, at the White 
House on the possibility of opening peace negotiations. On 
June and Roosevelt received the Russian Ambassador. On 
June 7th he sent an identical note to Russia and Japan, pro- 
posing the opening of peace negotiations. The peace confer- 
ence at Portsmouth opened on August 9th. 

6. President Roosevelt in his autobiography says of the peace 
negotiations between Russia and Japan: "During the course 
of the negotiations I tried to enlist the aid of the governments 
of one nation which was friendly to Russia, and of another 

[176] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

nation which was friendly to Japan in helping bring about 
peace, I got no aid from either. I did, however, receive aid 
from the Emperor of Germany. His ambassador at St. Peters- 
burg was the one ambassador who helped the American am- 
bassador, Mr, Meyer, at delicate and doubtful points of the 
negotiations. Mr. Meyer . . . rendered literally invaluable aid 
by insisting upon himself seeing the Czar at critical periods 
of the transaction, when it was no longer possible for me to 
act successfully through the representatives of the Czar, who 
were often at cross purposes with each other." 
7. This rather abrupt reference to the "Bride's entry" concerns 
the future wife of the German Crown Prince, Duchess Ce- 
cilia, the daughter of Friedrich Franz III. of Mecklenburg- 
Schwerin. She entered Berlin on June 3rd, 1905, the day the 
letter was written. 



[177] 



XLVIII 

PiLLAU 27/viI 1905 

Dearest Nicky 

On reaching the shores of my home^ I take the 
earliest opportunity of sending you a line to once 
more thank you for the way in which you received 
me and the kindness shown to me by you. The 
hours I was allowed to spend in your society will be 
ever graven in my memory, you were like a dear 
brother to me. I shall allways respond to your feel- 
ings with the same warmth and with the same in- 
tensity as you and you can count on me as on a firm 
friend, who is filled with the sole wish and hope to 
see you successful in your heavy work, and your 
country soon recover from the severe test It has un- 
dergone through the will of Providence. The Alli- 
ance for mutual support in case of need, which we 
concluded will be of great use to Russia, as it will 
restore quiet in the minds of the people and confi- 
dence in the maintenance of Peace in Europe, and 
encourage financial circles in foreign countries to 
place funds in enterprises to open up Russia, and its 
vast stores of wealth yet untouched. In times to 
come may not be Impossible that even Japan may 

[178] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

feel Inclined to join It. This would cool down Eng- 
lish selfassertlon and Impertinence, as she is her ally 
too. The 24th of July 1905 is a cornerstone in 
European politics and turns over a new leaf In the 
history of the world; which will be a chapter of 
Peace and goodwill among the great Powers of the 
European Continent, respecting each other in friend- 
ship, confidence, and In pursuing the general Policy 
on the lines of a community of Interests. The mo- 
ment the news of the new "groupement" will have 
become known in the world, the smaller nations, 
Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway will 
all be attracted to this new great centre of gravity, 
by quite natural laws of the attraction of smaller 
bodies by the larger and compacter ones. They will 
revolve in the orbit of the great block of Powers 
(Russia, Germany, France, Austria, Italy) and feel 
confidence In leaning on and revolving around this 
mass. The Dual Alliance combining with the Triple 
Alliance gives a Quintupel Alliance, well, able to 
hold all unruly neighbors in order, and to Impose 
Peace even by force, If there should be a Power hair- 
brained enough with to disturb it. In the conversa- 
tion with that excellent man Birilew- — capital choice 
you made — I mentioned that when once your types 
of ships are decided upon, you ought to build them 
as many as possible at once, and not forget the Ger- 
man private firms, beside the French. Because they 
would work as for their own country, whereas other 
Powers would make use of the secrets of your build- 

[179] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

ers and engineers against yourself and country. Be- 
tween Bjorkoe and Hochland I met my cruiser com- 
ing from Sweden, unshaven, unwashed and perfectly 
like a chimneysweep — a picture of woe — from the 
smoke of the Torpedoboat. I got some French 
news papers, in which I read a resume of the Brest 
Fetes :^ II y a 12 ans nous avions Toulon et Cron- 
stadt c'etait le mariage d'amour. Comme chez tous 
les manages d'amour est survenu un desillusionne- 
ment general surtout depuis la guerre 1904-05. 
Maintenanet nous avons Brest et Caves s'est le mar- 
iage d'affairs, et comme chez tous les mariages d'- 
affairs il en resultera un mariage de raison!^ I think 
that really cool! for an Ally! to let her "ami et 
alliee" drop like that ! It will do the French a world 
of good if you draw the reins a little tighter. Their 
10 milliards of francs they placed in Russia of course 
hinder them from quite faUing off, but the language 
shows to what a point the English flatteries have all- 
ready brought the French; and hope they wont go 
quite off their heads at Cowes. To use the meta- 
phor of '^mariage" again "Marianne" (France) 
must remember that she is wedded to you and that 
she is obliged to lie in bed with you, and eventually 
to give a hug or a kiss now and then to me, but not 
to sneak into the bedroom of the ever intriguing 
touche-a-tout on the Island. 

Now good bye dearest Nicky: dont forget about 
Magnacharta (habeas corpus act) and the recom- 
pense for your line army in bringing it to a level 

[180] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

with the Guards! You promised it to me! Dont 
mind the ill homour of Wlad;^ or the Guards 
opposition, remember the lo army corps in the Field 
that bled for you, and those in the Provinces at 
home, who are daily fighting for you against the 
Revolution. Best love to Alix from your 

most devoted friend 

Willy 

P. S. As you told me that Boulygine^' had allready 
finished a bill after your directions, responding to 
the ideas I told you about, it would I think be ur- 
gent to promulg^ate it now at once, to let the mem- 
bers be chosen as soon as possible so that, when the 
conditions of Peace are submitted to you; you can 
communicate them to the Russian People, who would 
have to bear the responsibility of rejection or ap- 
proval ! This would shield you from a general at- 
tack on your policy from all sides if you did it alone! 



NOTES 

1. Returning from Bjoerkoe, the island oflf the coast of Sweden, 
where the Czar and the Kaiser had signed the historic secret 
treaty. 

2. Russian Minister of the Navy. 

3. On July 9th the British fleet visited Brest. In August the 
French returned the visit at Cowes. 

4. For twelve years Toulon and Cronstadt were united in a mar- 
riage of love. As in all marriages of love, it was followed 
by general disillusionment, especially since the war of 1904-5. 

[181] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

Now Brest and Cowes are united in a business marriage and 
as in all business marriages, it will turn out to be a marriage 
of wisdom. 

5, Grand Duke Vladimir. 

6. Boulygine or Buligin was Russian Minister of the Interior in 
1905. In acordance with instructions from the Czar, originat- 
ing with the Kaiser's advice as outlined in the preceding let- 
ter, Buligin formulated a scheme for a "parliament." This 
body was to be advisory only, and when its nature was an- 
nounced on June 26th, the "reform" provoked universal dis- 
satisfaction in Russia. Two months later, August 19th, the 
Czar issued the manifesto establishing the Duma. Buligin 
was executed by a revolutionary tribunal in Soviet Russia in 
October, 1919. 



[182] 



XLIX 

SCHLOSS WiLHELMSHOHE, 22/viII I905 

Dearest Nicky 

Your manifest directing the formation of the 
*'Duma" made an excellent impression in Europe — 
especially — in my country, and I beg you to receive 
my warmest congratulations. It is a great step for- 
ward for the Political development of your country 
and gives the people an opening by which they will 
be able to bring before you their hopes and wishes, 
and enable a combined work of Master and Coun- 
try for the Nations welfare. You will be able to 
take touch with all sorts of conditions of men and 
infuse into them directly your spirit and your ideas, 
which was formerly hindered by the great bulky wall 
of the "Tchin"^ bureaucracy regarded with much 
suspicion by your subjects. Excuse my telegram the 
other day but I thought it might be a good idea to 
try the "mettle" of the "Duma" and to see wether 
it is workable or not. In the same time you get an 
excellent insight into the mind of your People and 
make them carry a part of the responsibility for the 
future, which it would have probably liked to saddle 

[183] 



Letters froin the Kaiser to the Czar 

solely upon you, thereby making a wholesale "crit- 
ique" and dissatisfaction with deeds done by you 
alone impossible. 

I send you enclosed some interesting articles show- 
ing the tendency of the thoughts of France. The 
British have prostituted themselves before France 
and the French sailors In the hopes of gaining them 
over from you, and stopping any "rapprochement" 
between you, me and them. The French felt much 
flattered, but I hope the sensible people have kept 
their heads cool and clear and seen, that all is "consu 
de fil blanc", and that Britain only wants to make 
France her "catspaw" against us, as she used Japan 
against you. The article in the "Forum" is written 
by Maurice Low, the correspondent of the "Morn- 
ing Post" sent to America. It Is cleverly written 
and most indlscret about the extension of the new 
Anglo-Japanese treaty which was kept quite secret 
In London till now, but he seems to have let the 
"cat out of the bag." The "Arch intriguer — andmis- 
chlefmaker" in Europe as ycu rightly called the 
King of England has been hard at work in the last 
months. At Cowes he said to one of my friends — 
a German gentleman I sent to observe the "Entente 
Cordiale" — "I cant find out what has been going on 
at Bjoerkoe ! Benckendorff^ knows nothing — for he 
always tells me everything — Copenhagen knows 
nothing and even the Emperors mother — who al- 
ways lets me know everything — has heard nothing 

[184] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

from her son this time; even Lambsdorff — who Is 
such a nice man and lets me know all I want to hear 
— knows nothing or at least wont tell! It is very 
disagreeable!" This shows you how very wide is 
the net of secret information he has cast over Europe 
and over you. He first let his Press launch the idea 
of a visit to me, and when all the papers of Europe 
had taken it up and talked it over, suddenly pub- 
lished an insulting dementi, declaring my Foreign 
Office had started the idea. The finest He I ever 
came across ! After this he goes and invites my son 
behind my back to come and visit him in England! 
I have of course stopped that business. His fleet is 
in the act of visiting our shores and I think this will 
open the eyes of many Germans who are still loth 
to vote money for an extension of our Fleet; we 
shall send many down by rail and steamer to take 
an object lesson. They will I hope learn to under- 
stand the necessity of building a strong fleet. The 
enclosed brochure^ was sent me from America, I en- 
close It, as I think it may interest you, especially 
from the point of view of the future plans England 
has vis-a-vis of Russia In Asia and what she is try- 
ing to use the Japanese for. It throws light on the 
Japanese expedition to the Turkestan frontier I told 
you about. 

Your most aff. Cousin and Friend 

Willy 

C185] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

NOTES 

1. Office-holding. 

2. The Russian ambassador in London. 

3. The pamphlet in question was not attached to the original 
letters kept in Moscow. 



[186] 



Cronberg 24/viii 1905 

To-day 4 weeks ago "Bjoerkoe"! The delight- 
ful hours we spent together! And the lasting bonds 
of unity of friendship which will bring fruits of good 
to our countries, so God will. I just got your kind 
long telegram ! So many thanks ; most kind to take 
so much trouble. I quite understand your position 
and resolutions! As soon as you are sure of your 
People backing you up, and they are ready for fur- 
ther fighting then all is right, and wish you Heavens 
help and a speedy victory. I am on a visit to my 
sisters here, who just returned from a long stay in 
England. They tell me the news of our meeting 
at Bjoerkoe threw all the people there and the press 
into the state of wildest excitement. The King and 
the Court before all were quite "aus dem Haus- 
chen",^ he trying to find out from my sisters whether 
they know anything of what was going on! They 
laughed him in the face of course, and were much 
amused. 

The extract from the letter of Bismarck to 
Schleinitz- from Russia in 1858 will interest you as 
it shows that history repeats itself and the times 
were very like what they are now. I saw Granduke 

[187] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

Georg today with Minny of Greece, he told me his 
news from private source were that the publication 
of the "Duma" had created great satisfaction in 
Russian provincial circles; and that sympathy for 
Germany and acknowledgement for our behaviour 
to Russia during the war were warm and lively. My 
sisters and Tino^ and all the family send you their 
very best love ! Dont forget the order ranking the 
"advancement" of the line equal to the Guard. It 
will answer splendidly! I enclose some new post- 
cards of the Saalburg I visited today, it is nearly 
finished and looks lovely in the fine summer weather. 
Now Good bye my dear Nicky, God help you and 
protect you and all your family my prayers will al- 
ways follow you as from you 

most devoted and aff-ate friend and cousin 

Willy 

25/viii 

P. S. Just when I had finished my letter I got a 
message from President Roosevelt.* Knowing my 
interest in the Peace Conference he kindly sent me 
information of the situation and of the points at 
issue upon which there is a difference of opinion 
between Japan and Russia, and his proposals for 
meeting the wishes of both beUigerents as far as it 
is possible. I think his proposals most sensible and 
practical and hope that they may come up to your 
expectations. As far as I can make out they seem 

[188] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 



to secure to Russia all the advantages of an hon- 
ourable Peace. But of course it is for you solely 
to decide, as you are best able to judge of the feel- 
ing of your countrymen. Once more I beg your 
pardon for being such an awful bore and bothering 
you, but you know that it all comes from a friendly 
heart, which beats warmly for you and your welfare 
as well as that of your country. 

I have ordered my fleet to shadow the British and 
when they have anchored to lay themselves near 
the British Fleet to give them a dinner and make 
them as drunk as possible to find out what they are 
about ; and then sail off again ! I think the astonish- 
ment will be great as the English as well as our 
people believe that our fleet will be in the North 
Sea ! So dont tell anybody for the secret must be 
well kept 1 Tata ! this is the real end of my epistle ! 

miiy 

The following is a translation of the extracts of 
Bismarck's letter to the German Secretary of State, 
von Schleinitz, appended by the Kaiser to his fore- 
going letter: 

"Following the announcement of the agrarian re- 
forms, every one in Russia who does not make his 
living exclusively by holding office demands and ex- 
pects some tangible form of participation by the 
people and especially by the higher social strata in 

[189] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

the government of the country; the masses are tem- 
perate, but one hears voices reminding one of the 
"Convention" and which have already outdistanced 
the viewpoint of the Girondists. One traces the 
activity of agitators who neglect no method for 
spreading calumnies against the court and the im- 
perial house, even among the lowest social strata. 
The intimate circle of the Czar is unfortunately not 
free from elements offering opportunities for the 
worst of such (charges) and whose acts as well as 
responsibility for the whole Augean stable of official 
blunders are cleverly blamed on the Czar, whose 
kindly heart without doubt is too indulgent toward 
many persons known to him, and whose honest efforts 
for the improvement of things are even recognized 
by those who criticize him for the failure of these ef- 
forts. The poor people, even the common soldiers, 
it is said, are told stories of the money expended 
at the court, the retainers of the grand dukes, the 
purchase of houses for the youngest sons of the 
Czar, the corruption at court, and this is compared 
with their poverty. Persons in high places, through 
office and birth, speak to me of revolutions as of 
things possible, but affecting them little personally, 
and touching the Czar alone, so that in no case does 
it appear that they think of sacrificing their lives in 
the defence of the throne. Indeed, at all times here 
people have made up by sharp criticism in conver- 
sation for the deference which they show to govern- 
mental authority in practical Hfe; but in former times 

[190] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

the European atmosphere was not so unfavorable 
for monarchical authority as today and especially as 
it has been in Russia for the last four years. Per- 
haps it will pass like an Intermittent fever, yet it 
is possible perhaps some little stray spark may yet 
start a great conflagration here. One hears offi- 
cers complaining about the laxity of discipline among 
the soldiers and war Is considered necessary If bad 
morale Is to be avoided. All over the world things 
look ominous and when it has come to such a pass 
that nobles outwardly of calm and peaceable tem- 
perament buy up whole shipments of revolvers and 
munitions In order to be prepared for the summer, 
I do not know If it were not better to be a Christian 
dog in Damascus than a gentleman In the land of 
Czar Nicholas. The prospects of the Germans In 
North Schleswig are at any rate less uncomfortable 
than those of the Russian land junker who padded 
with revolvers goes among his peasants like a living 
infernal machine. The Czar Is depressed by the 
seriousness of the Internal situation and has not the 
same interest as ordinarily for foreign politics. He 
said to me yesterday with deep sighs that Wednes- 
days are for him the only happy days, because then 
his duties give him 24 hours of rest. It Is because 
every Tuesday evening he goes on a hunt. Also at 
my recent audience he was downcast; he presented 
me with photographs of himself and the august 
Czarina and appended to them a description of the 
originals of all the family portraits hanging in the 

[191] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

room. If words were fatal, not a male of the en- 
tire house of Hollstein-Gottorp would still be alive. 
Everyone does justice to the noble heart of the 
Czar, but the "huts" which follow depends upon 
my coming at the opportune moment, or to beg for 
a change in the subject of the conversation. It Is 
very unfortunate that the Czar is made responsible 
for all the various and far-fetched misdeeds asso- 
ciated with the name of Minna Iwanowna, in Ger- 
man Frau von Burghof, friend of the old Adler- 
berg. That guard officers should discuss in the pres- 
ence of strangers the question whether or not to 
fire on the people. Czar Nicholas surely did not ex- 
pect so soon. The police system here, dating from 
olden times, has been so good, that the Czar was 
bound to learn too much of all these things, and the 
practical chief of this institution, Timaschew, sees 
everything in the near future as extremely gloomy/* 



NOTES 

1. Put out. 

2. The letter of Bismarck's was not written in 1858, as the Kaiser 
claims, but on November 30th, i860. 

3. Crown Prince Constantin, later King, of Greece. 

4. The Russo-Japanese peace agreement was reached at Ports- 
mouth, New Hampshire, on August 29th, five days after this 
'^tter was written, and the treaty was signed on September ftb- 



[ 192 ] 



LI 

ROMINTEN 26/lX 1905 

Dearest Nicky 

WItte's vlslt^ gives me the agreeable opportunity 
to send you a few words. This allways affords me 
great pleasure and I only trust that the letter may 
not bore you too much. I had most interesting con- 
versations with Witte. He has impressed me as a 
man of uncommon pespicacity and foresight and a 
rare gift of energy. He has managed to turn — with 
Rooseveldt's equally energetic and clever help — the 
Portsmouth Conference to a very good end. So 
much so, that in the rest of the world it is regarded 
as a signal and effective victory of Russia over Ja- 
pan. This may be of interest to you, because doubt- 
less enemies of his and invidious people in Russia, 
may wish to detract from his work, and make be- 
lieve that he has not safeguarded his country's in- 
terests as he ought to. Great men — and he must be 
I believe counted among them — will ever have to 
face a certain amount of envy and Hes which coun- 
terbalance the share of praise lavished on them by 
their admirers. But it is the facts that speak for 
them, and Portsmouth speaks for itself. 

[ 193] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

I found to my great satisfaction that his political 
ideas fully coincide with the base upon which we 
rested our views exchanged at Bjorkoe. He is a 
firm advocate of a Russo-German-France AUiance 
which as he tells me will be gladly "cotaoyge"^ by 
Amerika — for the maintenance of the Peace and 
statu quo in the world, the balance of which has been 
disturbed by the Anglo-Japanese Treaty.^ He was 
consequently very agreeable surprised when I told 
him of our work at Bjorkoe. It is the grouping of 
Powers which is the most natural — they beeing the 
representants of the "Continent" — and will have tlie 
consequence of drawing all the other lesser Powers 
in Europe into the orbit of this great block. Amerika 
will stand on the side of this "Combination." 
Firstly from the "Racial" point of view, they are 
decidedly "White" anti "Yellow." Secondly politi- 
cally, from fear of Japan on account of the Philip- 
pines upon which the Japanese have cast longing 
eyes, their loss would impair the American position 
in the pacific. Thirdly from the dangerous com- 
petition of the Japanese trade sustained by very 
cheap labour and without the cost of long transport 
with its tariffs for freight and for the passage of the 
Suez Canal. The sums to be paid for its passage 
beeing a heavy tax on the whole European com- 
merce. The same thing will be with the "Panama 
Canal." 

The "Continental Combine" flanked by America 
is the sole and only manner to effectively block the 

[ 194] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

way to the whole world becoming John Bull's priv- 
ate property, which he exploits at his hearts con- 
tents after having, by lies and intrigues without end, 
set the rest of the civilized nations by earh others 
ears for his own personal benefit. We see this per- 
nicious principle at work now in the Marocco ques- 
tion,^ in which John Bull is equally doing his best 
to set the French dead against us. Thereby caus- 
ing endless delay and trouble. But your Allies are 
so hypnotized by "Cowes" and *'Brest" and the "En- 
tente Cordiale" that scarcely do anything in Foreign 
Politics without consulting London first ! I think it 
would be a good thing if you would have Nelidoff^ 
advised to put a stop to this Anglomania and to re- 
mind the French that their future lies with you and 
us; for I hear that he is also somewhat "anglomane" 
Witte kindly gave the French advice about Marocco 
to take reason and I have ordered Radolin^ to be 
as "conciliant" as possible, so that I hope that we 
shall come to terms in a few days. 

With regard to the Anglo-French "Entente Cor- 
diale" you may perhaps find in my letters to you 
from two years ago, where I warn you of the begin- 
ning "Rapprochement" of the two Governments and 
countries; when they commonly opposed your policy 
in Macedonia after the "Miierzsteg Punctations." 
I then showed that they were resuming their old for- 
mer Policy of the "Crimean" and called them the 
"Crimean Combination." The Liberal "Western 
Powers" have combined as I predicted; and are not 

[195] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

only opposing you In foreign Policy, but more hotly 
and open on the field of internal Russian policy. The 
French and English Liberal Press quite openly and 
in conjunction denounce all monarchical and ener- 
getic actions in Russia — the "Zardom" as they call 
it — and openly espouse the cause of the Revolu- 
tionaries for the expansion and maintenance of lib- 
erahsm and "enllghtement" against the "Zardom" 
and "Imperialism" of "certain" backward coun- 
tries. That is yours and mine. The phrase by 
which the French are allways recaught by England 
is "to uphold in common the interests of Liberalism 
in the world and to propagate it in other countries." 
That means to foster and help revolutions all over 
Europe especially in countries which are happily 
not yet under the absolute dominations of those 
infernal parliaments. 

Alvensleben^ who is on leave at home is I am 
sorry to say quite broken down In health and has 
begged to be allowed to resign and leave the ser- 
vice. With your kind approval I propose to send 
your court H. v. Schoen^ Minister at Copenhagen. 
He was formerly a long time in Paris, is married to 
an elegant and most charming wife; he accompanied 
me on my journey to Tanglers and the Mediterra- 
nean this year and is a loyal quiet discret man; a 
personal friend of mine having my fullest confidence 
since many years. He Is well acquainted with all 
the English intrigues in Denmark, many of which 
he was able to counteract. He knows Italy 

[196] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

well, speaks french, Italian, engllsh like his mother- 
tongue ; Is most active and a good lawn-tennis player, 
In case you should need one. 

The visit of the British Fleet at Swlnemiinde and 
Danzig went off without collisions. The Public was 
civil and "hospitaller" but without enthouslasm. At 
Esbjerg I had one of my friends who speaks Danish 
and engllsh well. He went on board the ships dis- 
guised as a coal merchant and frequently dined or 
lunched with the officers. They told him that they 
were sent to the Baltic to show the Emperors, that 
they had no power whatever to decide anything as 
they pleased, for the British Fleet would never al- 
low them to!!! A fine piece of Impudence! May 
your fleet soon lay again on the waters in fine ships 
of new types commanded by able bodied and clear 
minded officers and well trained men. 

A piece of news that will amuse you come from 
Vienne a few days ago. The American Ambassador 
Mr. Bellamy Storer^ told a friend of mine that he 
had been with King of England at Marienbad a few 
days before the conclusion of peace the King told 
Storer that there was no idea of Peace as Japan 
would never be allowed to give up the demand for 
Indemnity, which was due to It as Victor. . He then 
went on saying that it was necessary that Russia 
should be and remain financially helpless and 
crippled for a long time. Storer said he was In a 
very awkward position as the King asked his advice 
on the promenade loudly before a large number of 

[197] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

people who were accompanying him and who were 
listening!! It seems he is afraid Amerlka will join 
the other Nations in giving Russia money, when a 
great loan is internationally Issued; and wanted to 
influence Storer to report home to that effect; which 
he of course refused to do. 

Now the Peace beelng signed and the ratifications 
even to be exchanged would not you think it prac- 
tically, if we two instruct our ambassadors at foreign 
courts identically without letting them into the secret 
of the existence of a treaty — that in all matters not 
specially affecting our countries in their own inter- 
est, but in all questions of general policy our ambas- 
sadors are to work together and inform each other 
of their instructions and ideas. This common ex- 
posal of a common cause, will not fall to impress 
the world that our relations have become closer and 
thus slowly prepare your Allies the French, for the 
new orientation which their policy must take for the 
entry into our treaty. The Marocco question will be 
settled in a few days, — Witte having talked sense and 
given good advice to both sides, and I have in- 
structed to be as "coulant" as possible. Witte has 
charmed all the ladies and Gentlemen here by his 
amusing stories about America and his experiences 
which will greatly amuse you too! Now goodbye 
dearest Nicky, love to Alix a kiss to the boy from 
Ever your most devoted 

friend and cousin Wlh 

[198] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 



NOTES 

1. Count Sergei Witte was chief Russian envoy at the Ports- 
mouth peace conference. On his way home from America he 
stopped at Paris, and while there was requested from Petro- 
grad to go on to Rominten at the Kaiser's suggestion. He ar- 
rived there the day this letter was written, and left on the 
day following. 

2. "Cotoye" probably, meaning "followed." 

3. The treaty between England and Japan, signed January 30th, 
1902, and due to expire in 1907, was expanded in its scope 
and signed on August 12th, 1905. 

4. The Franco-German agreement, embodying the program for 
the conference later held at Algeciras, was signed two days 
after this letter was written. 

5. Alexander I. Nelidoff was Russian ambassador to France from 
1903 until his death in 1910. He played a considerable part 
in settling the Dogger Bank incident in the Russo-Japanese 
War. 

6. Prince Hugo de Radolin was German ambassador in Paris 
at this time. 

7. Count Friedrich Johann Alvensleben, German ambassador at 
Petrograd, 1901-1905. 

8. Baron W. von Schoen, German Minister at Copenhagen from 
1900 to 1905, was appointed German ambassador to Russia 
in the latter year. In 1910 he became ambassador in Paris. 

9. Formerly American Minister to Belgium and Spain, American 
Ambassador to Austria-Hungary, 1902-1906. 



[199] 



LII 

Neues Palais 8/xi 1905 

Dearest Nicky 

The Chancellor, to whom I read some parts of 
your letter, told me that our purely defensive agree- 
ment cannot possibly clash with the French treaty 
concluded by your Father. For if it did, the mean- 
ing would be, that by the French treaty Russia is 
bound to support France even in a war of aggres- 
sion against Germany! But such a contingency i.e. 
Russia supporting France in an aggressive policy 
against us, we never till now looked upon as deserv- 
ing even a moments consideration; because your 
dear father often told me he would at all times set 
his face openly against any war of aggression. Be- 
sides beeing on the most friendly and intimate terms 
with me. This is illustrated by the fact that in 1891 
during the maneuvres near Narva, he openly ex- 
pressed to me his aversion to the French Republican 
system, advocating the restoration of Monarchy in 
Paris, for which undertaking he begged me to help 
him. If your French agreement is like ours purely 
defensive, then there is no incompatibility between 
[ 200 ] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

the two, one does not exclude the other, so that no 
further declaration Is required. 

On the other hand I can understand that it may 
be opportune for you, not to publicly proclaim your- 
self as ally, at the moment when the international 
revolutionists are spreading broadcast over the 
world the infamous lie of my having tried to influ- 
ence you in favour of reaction. 

My fervent wish is that you may pass unharmed 
through the present crisis, and that your people 
may fully grasp your noble intentions. Now you 
must wait and see how the institutions you called 
into life work practically; only after this it will later 
on be possible to judge wether and how modifica- 
tions would be required. 

As for your opinion of Witte, I of course cannot 
pretend to know him as well as you do, but he cer- 
tainly Impressed me as a man above the average. 
At the same time I am glad you took your uncle 
Nicolas Nicolaiewitsch^ into your confidence. He 
appears to me as representing an element of firm- 
ness ; and firmness may be necessary to maintain or- 
der. Without orders young liberty cannot live. 

With regard to Tattenbach- and Morokko your 
French Information is Incorrect. I do not aim nor 
ever aimed at any special advantage for Germany, 
and Tattenbach never advocated any PoHcy of his 
own. This is a thing unheard of In my service, my 
representatives In foreign countries only advocating 
one policy and that is mine ! We only wish to se- 

[201] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

cure the open Door, that is an interest we have in 
common with all the other seafaring and trading 
nations. There is no reason whatever why an equit- 
able arrangement with France should not be arrived 
at on that ground. I trust that you whose perman- 
ent aim is to promote peace between all nations and 
goodwill all over the civilized world, will lend your 
powerful help to bring the Conference to a general 
understanding, based on the maintenance of the 
open Door. A word in this direction to your repre- 
sentative at the Conference would be most advanta- 
geous in lightening the task of my minister. With 
best love to Alix and the baby believe me dear Nicky 
ever your 

Willy 



NOTES 

It was believed that the Grand Duke, who later commanded 
the Russian Armies in the Great War, was the influence that 
was mainly responsible for the annulment of the secret treaty 
concluded by the Kaiser and Czar at Bjoerkoe. 
Count de Tattenbach was on a special mission to the Sultan 
of Fez to secure special privileges for Germany in Morocco. 



[ 202 ] 



LIII 

Neues Palais 30/xii 1905 
Dearest Nicky 

General Tatlscheff^ has given me your letter and 
presented himself In his new "charge." It Is of the 
highest Importance for me to know that he enjoys 
your full confidence, and I will "le cas echeeant'* 
with pleasure avail myself of his services In my 
private relations with you. He Is welcome here and 
In the ranks of my headquarters, to which he now 
belongs. 

The new ambassador von Shoen Is leaving today 
with Gen. v. Jacobl.^ I can vouch for the General's 
character in every way. He was my first adjutant 
I ever had, studied with me at Bonn, served In the 
1st Guards with the ist Batalllon; later on for a 
second time became my aide de camp after I came 
to the throne, spent several years as mlllt. attache 
at Rome and finally commanded Mama's Regiment 
at Wiesbaden, where you saw him. I am sure that 
he Is as worthy of your confidence as he commands 
mine, who knows him Intimately since 25 years! 
Best thanks for your kind letter and your wishes 
for New Year, which I heartily reciprocate. May 
[203] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

God bless and protect you and your family and grant | 

Peace to your People this is the earnest wish of I 

I 

Ever your devoted and aff-ate cousin, friend and ally j 

Willy 



NOTES 

Count Ivan D. Tatischeff, the Czar's military representative 
attached to the person of the Kaiser. 

General F. W. L. Albano von Jacobi, a member of the Kaiser's 
suite, was at this time Minister Plenipotentiary at the Russian 
Emperor's Court, with a residence at Petrograd. 



[204] 



LIV 



Berlin 29/1 1906 



Dearest Nicky 



General v. JacobI brought me your letter and 
wishes for which best thanks. He was most happy 
at the kind reception he met at your hands as well 
as in society, I am glad to hear from him that you 
are quite well as also are Alix and the children. 
He was most impressed by the good looks and 
**tenue" the Regiments showed, which were in- 
spected by you, at which ceremony he was allowed 
to assist. But he was very sorry he cut such a miser- 
able figure at the shooting party, not having his own 
guns, and beeing only an indifferent marksman. 

The idea of a swaggering "aide-de-camp" from 
our "Collegue" the woodcutters von Fallieres^ fol- 
lowing about in your "suite" caused me unlimited 
amusement. But besides being awfully funny it is in 
some respects at least also a useful idea. The more 
closely France is drawn over to you — provided it 
succeeds — the more it gets out of mischief. The 
Moroccan business^ will as far as I can see come out 
all right without war. The decisive point Is that 
hitherto no other Power has shown any disposition 
[ 205 ]; 



Letters fro m the Kaiser to the Czar 

for eventually lending France armed' support, In 
case she wants to invade Morocco. Without the cer- 
tainty of armed support France is not likely to risk 
such an invasion. Some arrangement will ultimately 
be agreed upon ensuring Peace for all the parties 
concerned with honour assuring at the same time 
for the trade of the whole world the maintenance of 
the open Door in Morocco. That the French re- 
fused a loan to Russia now,^ has not so much to do 
with the Moroccan Affair, as she has much calmed 
down since the opening of the Conference of Al- 
gesiras, but to the reports of the Jews from Russia 
— who are the leaders of the Revolt^ — to their kins- 
men In France who have the whole Press under their 
nefarious influence. Berlin is quite full of Russians 
and noble famlHes fled from the Baltic Provinces. 
Over 50,000 of your subjects are here. 20,000 about 
at Konigsberg and other thousands in the small Pro- 
vincial towns of Prussia, Posen and Silesia. Espe- 
cially the Nobles from the Baltic Provinces are in 
dire distress, having lost all their castles burnt and 
their properties pillaged and their forests partly de- 
stroyed. Many a baroness has gone in for simple 
housekeeping in other families, and young comtesses 
and baronesses have had to enter "Magazins" as 
simple shopgirls, only to save themselves and their 
mothers from starving!! Our great landed propri- 
etors have volunteered to harbour some families in 
their country houses, and even the Empress has 
taken girls into her seminary to relieve the poor 

[ 206 ]i 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

You have no idea of the terrible loss 
and distress reigning in the best of your Courland 
and Livland Nobility. As many of my officers serv- 
ing in the army have married young ladies from 
these families, receiving their main means of sub- 
sistence from their parents-in-law these poor fellows 
are also suddenly placed vis-a-vis de rien, as they 
cannot live on their pay. To my opinion many mil- 
lions will be necessary for reestablishing these poor 
people and helping to rebuild their destroyed homes, 
which sums 1 trust your Government will readily 
place at their disposal; an order from you to that 
effect would make an excellent impression in the 
whole of Europe, and rally the dropping spirits of 
these lamentable people. 

While I am writing these lines I just receive the 
sudden and quite unexpected news of your dear 
grandfathers death. ^ What a noble ideal and chiv- 
alrous monarch has passed away! Beloved by his 
family and his subjects who looked upon him as 
their father! I deeply sympathize with you in this 
great loss, which we monarchs all feel and deplore, 
as we have lost one of our best among us ! Your 
poor mother will be in an awful distress, but thank- 
ful that she was there to spend the last moments with 
her adored father ! I of course intend going to the 
funeral. 

General Saionzkowsky^ was presented to me and 
made an excellent impression upon me ; I was glad to 
be able to congratulate him on the briUiant achieve- 

[207] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the C zar 

ments of my brave Regiment of Viborg, that fought 
so gallantly for its Emperor and Country. 

Now goodbye dearest Nicky, best love to Alix 
and the children from 

Your aff-ate friend and cousin 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. Fallieres had a fortnight before been elected President of 
France. The Kaiser's "woodcutters" joke is not clear. 

2. The conference at Algeciras had opened on January i6th, un< 
der the Presidency of the Duke of Almodovar. 

3. The new Russian loan of 800,000,000 francs proposed at the 
moment, was rejected by the French Government, but the 
French banks were willing to advance funds to strengthen the 
gold reserve of the Imperial Bank. 

4. The revolutionary outbreaks in the Baltic Provinces in the 
fall of 1905. 

5. King Christian IX. of Denmark died this day. He was the 
father of the Czar's mother. 

6. In the Russo-Japanese War he commanded the 85th Viborg 
Infantry Regiment, of which the Kaiser was Honorary Colonel. 



[208] 



LV 

Berlin 6/111 1906 
Dearest Nicky] 

The return of General a la suite v. Jacobi to 
Tsarskoe gives me the opportunity of sending these 
lines through him. They are to express my sincerest 
and heartfelt thanks for your kind wishes for our 
silver wedding^ and for the splendid present you 
kindly sent us both. They are really most splendid! 
Lovely in colour and exquisite in workmanship ; the 
chiffres in precious stones making an excellent set off 
on the soft dark green of the stone. They attracted 
great attension among our guests and were duly ad- 
mired. It was most kind of you to think of our 
old wedding and to take part in our festivities like 
this. I was most pleased to salute all the deputa- 
tions you sent me. Especially my brave "Viborgs'' 
were the centre of admirative curiosity; they made 
a very good impression everywhere and were 
"feted" as much as possible. The festivities were 
most tiring and exerting, but happily Victoria got 
through pretty well after just having had a sharp 
attack of Influence. Since 3 days we have perfect 
summer here and everybody is out on horseback and 

[209] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

on foot, auto or cycle even hundreds are to be seen 
sitting in the gardens and on the terraces of the 
"cafes" drinking their coffee or bier out of doors! 
I suppose this warm weather will soon reach you 
too! With best love to Alix and the babies and 
once more thanking you for your lovely gift, 

I remain 

Ever your most devoted and aff-ate Friend and 

cousin 

Willy 



NOTE 

I. The Kaiser was married on February 27th, 188 1, to Augusta- 
Victoria, Princess of Slesvig-Holstein. With their silver wed- 
ding was celebrated the marriage of their second son, Prince 
Eitel Friedrich, to the Duchess Sophie Charlotte of Oldenburg. 



[210] 



LVI 

Neues Palais 14/vi 1906 
Dearest Nicky 

Sincerest thanks for your kind letters Tatlscheff 
brought me and the second one Wladimir gave me 
today. I fully sympathize with you in these diffi- 
cult times. The best way to relieve the cares and 
worries the situation at home causes you, is as you 
do, to occupy yourself with your fine Guard by in- 
specting them and speaking to them. It gives you 
pleasure and gratifies the troops, who will in no 
doubt In serious moments, acknowledge the interest 
you show them, by proving a loyal, trustworthy and 
keen weapon in the hand of their sovereign ! I am 
glad your Hussars satisfied you, who served in their 
ranks! It is the same with me here; as I also have 
a "penchant" for my Guarde Hussars, whom I com- 
mande for a time. I review them yesterday, before 
maneuvering the Guards Cavalry Division, which 
was most successful, but like all inspections this year 
ended in a heavy shower. 

I quite agree with your views on the Anarchist 
question. The attempt^ was dastardly and fuiend- 
ish. The difficulty to cope with this pest of Man- 

[211] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

kind is, as you rightly observe that in some countries 
— before all in England — these beasts may live un- 
disturbed and there to plot against the hves of any- 
body. I am informed that the Spanish Prime Min- 
isted had charged the Prince of Wales to express 
the wish of the Spanish nation to H. M. the King 
Edward VII, that it was deemed necessary he should 
cause his Government to join the Continental Pow- 
ers in the serious repression of this murderous sect. 

This occurence shows that the arrangements made 
by our two Governments for the control of these 
fellows, have completely miscarried. Because they 
can live with absolute impunity in London, and there 
mature there murderous designs. The right place 
for these fuiends is the scaffold, sometimes the im- 
prisonment for life in a lunatic asylum. All Contin- 
ental Powers should send London a joint invitation 
to ask the English Government to join them by an 
International agreement to light these beasts. I 
should think that it would be possible, by a com- 
mon consent,, in the defence of life and culture to 
legally place the fabrication of chemicals for the 
the filling and use of bombs under capital punish- 
ment. The Duma^ creates most difficult situations 
for your Government and the circumstances are most 
trying. But one must hope that after a time, both 
will manage to find means and ways to come to a 
reasonable modus vivendi, so that positive work 
may be done for the welfare of the country. 

As I expected your choice fell on Iswolsky,^ who 
[212] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

will I am sure satisfy you, as a most clever man he 
will easily guide the course of Russian Foreign poli- 
tics, along peaceful lines according to your wish. 
He gave a very sensible answer to Schoen in the 
Bagdad Railway* question so that I hope my Gov- 
ernment will be able to continue working with him 
on the base of mutual confidence arising out of the 
community of interests. Our interests in this Rail- 
way are purely economic and commercial for the 
welfare of mankind. It represents a concession in 
full legal form to a German Company, who is build- 
ing and running it. I can well imagine that the 
English are, as you say fiddling around you, about 
Asia.^ But as you have decided calmly to await 
their proposals, it is sure that, if their terms about 
Central Asia seems acceptable to you, an under- 
standing with them would remove many elements of 
friction and conflict which would also give me satis- 
faction. 

No doubt everybody will understand that the 
actual moment chosen by the English Fleet to pay 
their self-invited visit must be most irritating and 
inopportune to you and your country, and I am fully 
convinced of your feelings of indignation about it 
from my feelings about the visit to us last year. 
They will certainly try to strengthen the backs of 
your ultra liberal party. The fleet on their return 
journey have announced their visit to Pillau and 
Travemiinde. I shall have them closely watched. 

Like you I look forward with great pleasure to 
[213] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

our meeting In the end of Summer. As I shall be 
back in the Baltic in the first days of August I 
thought to propose to you to meet on the i of 
August — new style — if the weather is fine in the 
roads of Herlngsdorf off Swinemiinde. The place 
is very pretty and the communication with the shore 
for dispatches etc. much easier than at Hela. 

The kind old Emperor Francis Joseph^ I went 
to see, was still remarkably fresh, though age has 
bent him a little; he also was much irritated at the 
behaviour of his parliament. The hours I spent 
with him were most agreeable through his warm 
hearted kindness and chivalry. 

I visited a most interesting old — restored — castle 
Kreuzenstein"^ belonging to the celebrated explorer 
Count Wilzeck. It is a marvel of Gottick architec- 
ture and furniture from the 13th and 15th century 
most harmonious and instructive. 

Tatischeff will tell you of my inspection this 
spring and the maneuvers of 2nd Brigade showing 
the new "Reglement" for the ist time, as well as 
the evolutions of the Guards Cavalry Division un- 
der my command, which went off exceedingly well. 
Wladimir was here and gave me your kind lines, 
which, as Colonel of the Viborgs made me feel very 
proud. I once more thank you for the great kind- 
ness you showed them, and the honour you gave 
them by inspecting them; they fully deserved it as 
they behaved most gallantly. Wladimir also ac- 
companied us to a great cattle show near Berlin 

[214] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

and seemed highly amused at the production of 
prize cows, bulls, pigs, horses, etc., that made a great 
noise; the thousands of peasants and small proprie- 
tors were most jubilant in their loyal demonstra- 
tions. Most astonishing progress was shown in the 
departments of the Electric and AlcohoHc motors, as 
well as the alcoholic gas lamps for the use of the 
landed proprietors. Now good bye dearest Nicky, 
God bless and protect you, best love to Alix, and 
"au revoir" at Swinemiinde, where we shall try to be 
a merry company. 
'*> 
Ever your most aff-ate friend and cousin 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. On May 31st, while the King and Queen of Spain were re- 
turning from their wedding in the Church of San Jeronirao el 
Real in Madrid, a bomb was thrown at the royal coach. 

2. The Duma had been opened on May loth, on the eve of which 
Count V^itte's resignation was announced. The first Duma's 
life was stormy from the beginning. It was soon dissolved. 

3. Iswolsky became Minister of Foreign Aflfairs. 

4. This project which had been marking time since October, 1904, 
now began to move forward again. 

5. Great Britain and Russia were through their representatives 
discussing the interests of the two countries in Asia, so as to 
pave the way for the coming Triple Alliance. 

6. The Kaiser on June 6th arrived in Vienna on a short visit 
to the Emperor Francis-Joseph at Schonbrunn. 

7. The castle had been turned practically into a museum of Fif- 
teenth Century arms and armor. 



[215] 



LVII 

l/ll 1907 

Dearest Nicky 

Hintze^ is about to leave and this affords me the 
opportunity of sending you these lines through hijj. 
My warmest wishes accompany you in the New 
Year hoping that your steady work for yoi:r 
country and the welfare of the people may succeed 
in calming the minds heated by discussion and mis- 
lead by unwarrantable agitation I hope that, if wiser 
counsels prevail with your subjects this year, and 
they behave themselves we shall be able to meet on 
the "waters" somewhere and that Henry^ will be 
happy to show you the Fleet under his Flag. I 
think you will find a certain progress in its develop- 
ment since 1901 near Danzig old types having been 
eliminated and new ones added so as to render the 
whole fleet more homogenous. 

With best love to Alix and the Children, whose 
photos pleased me immensely, specially of the boy 
and wishing you Gods blessing believe me dear 
Nicky 

Ever your most aff-ate cousin and friend 

Willy 
[216] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 



NOTES 

Captain von Hintze was a member of the Kaiser's suite, at- 
tached to the person of the Czar. 

Prince Henry of Prussia, the Kaiser's brother, had been ap- 
pointed in September, 1906, to the chief command of the Ger- 
man battle-fleet. 



[217] 



LVIII 

28/xii 1907 

Dearest Nicky 

With all my heart warmest wishes for 1908. God 
bless and protect you Alix and the children. Let 
me hope of having the pleasure of meeting you 
again. By my visit to England^ I think I have re- 
moved many courses of misunderstanding and of 
distrust, so that the atmosphere is cleared and the 
pressure on the safety valve relieved. As a piece 
of news only quite private and confidential for YOU 
PERSONALLY, I found the British people very ner- 
vous about the Japanese whom they begin to fear 
and mistrust. The sailing of the American Pacific 
fleet has angered London highly as they tried every- 
thing in their power to hinder it. London is afraid 
of an encounter between Japan and America, because 
they must take sides with one of them, as it will be 
a question of Race, not of Politiks, only Yellow 
versus White. The dropping of Japan would im- 
mediately entail the loss of India; which the Japan- 
ese are quietly undermining, revolutionizing etc. 
The Japanese have foreseen this devolpment and 
are preparing for it. Perhaps they will first attack 

[218] 




"50 "5 



is 
02 



•2 I 



W 



2 2 



u.s 



o S 



3 

o «« 

o a 
c 



B c 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

India and leave Philippines alone. British Naval 
and Army officers spoke openly to me and my officers 
of their disgust at the "Yellow" alliance with Japan, 
whom they hate. In this state of feelings judge 
what an effect Count Okumas speech^ a few days 
ago has made ! The action is that of a Shimose 
shell in London ! Now their newspapers have for 
the first time used the term "Yellow Peril" from 
my picture^ which is coming true. A German 
Gentleman just back from Mexico reported to me 
having himself counted 10,000 Japanese men in the 
plantations In South Mexico, all in Military Jack- 
ets with brass buttons. After work at sundown they 
all assemble under sergeants and officers who are 
disguised as simple labourers, in squads and detach- 
ments and drill and exercise with staffs of wood, 
which he observed very often, when they thought 
they were unobserved. They are Japanese reserv- 
ists who have hidden arms with them, and intended 
as army corps to seize the Panama Canal and to cut 
off communication on land with America. It is not 
impossible that England will have to send out a 
squadron to the Pacific, which they are very loth 
to do. Meanwhile American and British Journalists 
are having a little friendly nosepuUIng among each 
other, which shows the nervousness of the London 
Press. This is my secret information for YOU per- 
sonally, so that you may have time to arrange for 
your plans, it Is sure information and good, as you 
well know by now that I never gave you wrong one. 

[2193 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

The main point is to have ones eyes open and be 
prepared. The development may be slow, yet in- 
cidents may create an unexpected and sudden out- 
burst before the question has ripened, as will some- 
times happen. It is imposing to observe how well 
the Japanese prepare themselves for an emergency! 
They are going in for the whole of Asia, carefully 
preparing their blows and against the white Race in 
general! Remember my picture, its coming true I 
If France sides with England in this affair, Saigon 
and Annam are gone I 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. The Kaiser visited the King of England in the beginning of 
November, 1907. 

2. The speech of Count Okuma, the Japanese Prime Minister, 
contained a reference to the 300,000,000 inhabitants of India 
looking toward Japan for aid in their emancipation from 
European rule. 



[ 220 ] 



LIX 

WiLHELMSHOHE l8/VIII o8 

Dearest Nicky 

Will you kindly do me the favour of kindly ac- 
cepting the first proofs of my photos in the new- 
Russian uniforms. They have not yet been pub- 
lished, and I hope your scrutinizing eye would find 
any faults with the turn out. Uncle Betrie^ was all 
sunshine at Cronberg and in very good humour. He 
intends visiting Berlin officially with Aunt Alix^ 
next year, date to be fixed. He also talked about 
Turkey, giving to understand that she was best left 
alone, to organize herself, and to reform Mace- 
donia herself, so that the Powers were able for the 
time to drop the projected reforms, which seemes 
to relieve him visibly. 

I hope your trip is favoured by good weather, 
whilst we have incessant pouring rain here, with 
best love to Alix 

Ever your aff-ate friend and cousin 

Willy 

NOTES 

1. King Edward met the Kaiser on August nth in Cronberg. 

2. Queen Alexandra. 

[221 ] 



LX 

HUBERTUSSTOCK 8/l OQ 

Dearest Nicky 

Many thanks for your kind letter of Dec. 25th 
which you sent me through Tatischeff. I was much 
pleased to hear from you, and my wife and I both 
thank you most sincerely for your kind wishes for 
the New year. You are quite right in saying that 
the old year was an eventful one. The annexation 
of Bosnia and Herzegowina^ was a genuine surprise 
for everybody, but particularly so for us as we 
were informed about Austrias intentions even later 
than you. I think it my duty to draw your atten- 
tion to this, considering that Germany has been 
accused of having pushed Austria to take this step. 
This allegation is absurd and as untrue as it was 
in the case of the Sanjack Railway. I am glad to 
see by your letter that people in Russia begin to re- 
ahse this now. 

The fact is that once Austria had taken this step 

without previously consulting us hesitation as to the 

course we had to follow as loyal allies was out of 

the question. We could not side with her oppon- 

[ 222 ] 



'Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

ents. You will be the first to approve of this loyalty 
of ours. 

But this does not mean that we intend to drop 
our old friendly relations with Russia. I am even 
more firmly convinced than ever, that Germany and 
Russia should be as closely united as possible; their 
union would form a powerful stronghold for the 
maintenance of Peace and of monarchical institu- 
tions. You know my views in that respect that my 
friendship is loyal and sincere I was able to prove 
to you by facts; when during the period of adver- 
sities Russia had to pass through recently I took 
grave responsibility on myself for your sake. 

Valuing as I do friendly relations between our 
two countries I consider it all the more important, 
that whatever might injure them should be removed. 
You wont I hope mind my telling you quite frankly 
what I think on that subject. Recently we have 
been represented as resenting and showing uneasi- 
ness about your agreement with England concerning 
Central Asia. The same rumours are circulated 
about the visit Uncle Bertie paid to you at Reval.^ 
All nonsense ! We understand perfectly that Russia 
for the present must avoid getting into a conflict 
with Great Britain, and that for this reason she is 
bent on smoothing away actual points of controversy. 

Apart from this you have repeatedly given me 
the formal assurance, that you would not enter upon 
any agreement with England of a more general na- 
ture. I have your word what else should I require? 
[223] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 



We are quite as anxious as you to improve our rela- 
tions with England. I am looking forward to the 
visit Uncle Bertie is going to pay me next month in 
Berlin not only because I am gratified to have him 
and Aunt Alix over here, but also because I expect 
the visit to have useful results for the Peace of the 
World. 

No my dear Nicky neither your agreement with 
England about Central Asia nor your meeting at 
Reval has produced any uneasiness or disappoint- 
ment in Germany! The cause is quite a different 
one. It is the patent fact that for the last two 
years Russian Policy has been gradually drawing 
away from us more and more, evolving always 
closer toward a combination of powers unfriendly 
to us. The Triple Entente between France-Russia 
and England is beeing talked of by the whole world 
as an accomplished fact. English and French papers 
miss no opportunity of representing this alleged 
Triple entente as being directed against Germany, 
and only too often the Russian Press chimes in join- 
ing the chorus. On the other hand in many cases 
of late Russian policy has shown mistrust in German 
policy, for instance in Persia and China, a mistrust 
entirely unwarranted. As for other questions in 
which we are interested, such as the Bagdad Rail- 
way, v/ere we expected to count on Russia, she in 
her policy gave us a wide berth. It is surprising 
consequently that a certain estrangement should 
have grown up between our two countries? 

[224] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

I need not assure you that all these questions im- 
press me very keenly, and I think it my duty to draw 
your attention to the situation as It really is and to 
the reasons which lead up to It before it be too late. 

The tendency of Russian poHcy to prefer to lean 
on England and France was particularly in the 
present crisis. Your Government approached mine 
about the Bosnian question only after a programme 
for an Intended Conference had been drawn up and 
agreed to in Paris and London. This programme 
was published in the French Press before beeing 
communicated to us. French Papers as well as 
English and Russian rising a jubilant chorus about 
this achievement of the new "Triple entente" as 
matters stood when Iswolsky came to Berlin, my 
Government had no alternative but the strlktest re- 
serve with regard to several Important points form- 
ing part of the Russian wishes. We could not urge 
our ally to consent to a programme, which we knew 
she would not accept, quite apart from the consid- 
eration that the programme had been drawn up with- 
out us; our cooperation having been dispensed with 
In a manner that was judged by the outer world 
as an intended demonstration. Had another 
course been adopted we would have been able to 
suggest to your Government not to launch this pro- 
gramme. We would have suggested preliminary con- 
fidential negotiations between the cabinets, such nego- 
tiations affording us more than opportunity of 
rendering valuable services to Russia. Had Russia 
[225] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

consulted us In the right time, matters would not be 
in the awful muddle they are in now nor in such a 
critical state. Under the present circumstances I dont 
quite see, what I could do, except giving words of 
moderation to both sides, which I allready have 
done. I also feel it my duty to tell you quite frankly 
that I am under the impression that your views about 
Austria's intentions are too pessimistic and that you 
are over anxious, more than is necessary. We here 
at any rate have not the slightest doubt that Austria 
is not going to attack Servia. This would not at all 
be like the Emperor Francis Josef, who is wise 
and judicious and such a venerable Gentleman. Nor 
do we believe that Aehrenthal harbours any such 
plans. Of course the small Balkan states must neces- 
sarily be prudent and loyal and avoid all provoca- 
tions and put a stop to warlike preparations. These 
small states are an awful nuisance. Quantitees neg- 
ligeables! The slightest encouragement from any 
quarter makes them frantic. The speeches that 
were made in the Skuptschtina on the 2d made a very 
bad impression upon me on account of their revo- 
lutionary tendency. Six years ago these very small 
people were looked upon with disgust and horror by 
the whole world as the murderers of their King! 

I do hope with all my heart that notwithstanding 
numerous and serious difficulties have to be sur- 
monted a peaceful solution will be arrived at; any- 
thing I can do In that direction will certainly be 
done. Take my word for it! 
[226] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

Hintze will be the bearer of this letter and will I 
hope find you all in health and happiness, to whom 
I once more wish that the Lord may give you Peace 
and prosperity and happiness in the New Year. 

Victoria and I send best love to Alix; so glad my 
Xmas presents were a success. Believe me dearest 
Nicky, ever 

Your 
true and devoted cousin and friend 

Willy 



NOTES 

Austria's annexation of these two Balkan provinces on Oc- 
tober 5th, 1908, caused an international crisis. In Russia it 
was considered a blow at Russia's prestige in the Balkans, de- 
livered with the connivance of Germany. This the Kaiser 
denies here. Austria's act nearly precipitated in 1908 the war 
which broke out six years later. The incident also gave pow- 
erful impetus to the Russo-English rapprochement. 
King Edward had visited the Czar in Reval on June 9-10, 
1908, and there the foundation was laid for the Triple Entente. 



[227] 



LXI 

Neues Palais 3/1V 09 
Dearest Nicky 

Will you kindly accept for yourself and dear Alix 
an Easteregg from us as a token of undiminished 
love and friendship. The one with the Greek portico 
and fountain represents a part of Charlottenhof, 
which was copied in the gardens of Peterhof and is 
for Alix. The round temple in the *'Freundschafts- 
temper* built by Fred, the Great in the park of 
Sans-souci and dedicated to all great historical pairs 
of men who kept their friendship unswervingly down 
to death, or who died for it. This may serve you as 
a symbol for our relation to each other as I look 
upon it. Easter is now nearing and I want to once 
more thank you sincerely for the loyal and noble 
way in which you kindly led the way to help to 
preserve peace. It is thanks to your highminded 
and unselfish intiative that Europe has been spared 
the horrors of a universal war, and that the Holy 
Week will remain unsullied by human blood, which 
would have been spilt. You may celebrate your 
Easter with the elating knowledge that everywhere 
in Europe thausands of families are on their knees 
thanking the Lord for Peace and praying for his 
blessing on your head. I intend to leave for Corfu 

[ 228 ] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

after Easter passing through Venice on our way- 
down. How I wish I could show you this lovely 
spot, a little Paradise on Earth! No tourists and 
easily reached from the sea direct! A happy Easter 
and best wishes to Alix and the boy. — 

Ever your devoted friend 

Willy 

P.S. On my home voyage I shall probably visit 
Uncle Arthur at Malta. 



[229] 



LXII 

Corfu 8/v 09 
Dearest Nicky 

As Hintze Is returning for your birthday I gladly 
seize the opportunity to send you these lines. With 
all my heart I wish you many happy returns. May 
Heaven bless and protect you and your wife and 
children. May you be successful In your work for 
your country and the welfare of your people. 

A few weeks ago when affairs threatened to be- 
come dangerous^ your wise and courageous descision 
secured peace for all the nations. I was most grati- 
fied that through my helping cooperation you were 
able to fullflll your task. 

I very naturally expected that you and I would 
win universal applause, and I venture to think that 
we may have earned the gratitude of all well mean- 
ing people. But to my regret and astonishment a 
great many blame us both Instead. Especially the 
Press in general has behaved In the basest way 
against me. By some papers I am credited with 
beeing the Author of annexation and am accused 
among other rot and nonsense of having humiliated 
Russia by my Peace proposal ! Of course you know 
[ 230 ] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

better. Yet the fact must be taken note of that 
the papers mostly create public opinion. Some of 
them err through their ignorance and lack of cor- 
rect information ; they scarcely see further than their 
own noses length. But more dangerous and at the 
same time more loathesome is the part of the press 
which writes what it is paid for. The scoundrels 
who do such dirty work, are in no fear of starving. 
They will allways continue to incite the hostility of 
one nation against the other, and when at last, 
through their hellish devices, they have brought 
about the much desired collision, they placidly sit 
down and watch the fight which they organized, well 
assured that the profit will be theirs no matter what 
the issue may be. In this way in 99 cases out of a 
hundred what is vulgarly called "public opinion" is 
a mere forgery. 

As Sovereigns who are responsible to God for the 
wellfare of the Nations entrusted to our care it is our 
duty therefore to closely study the genesis and de- 
velopment of "public opinion" before we allow it to 
influence our actions. Should we find that it takes 
its origin from the tarnished and gutterlike sources 
of the above named infamous press our duty will 
and must oblige us to energetically correct it and 
resist it. 

Personally I am totally indifferent to newspaper 
gossip, but I cannot refrain from a certain feeUng 
of anxiety, that if not contradicted at once, the foul 
and filthy lies which are freely circulated about my 

[231 ] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

policy and my country, will tend to create bitter- 
ness between our two people by virtue of their con- 
stant uncontradicted repetition. Public opinion 
wants clear information and leading. 

When I set out for Corfu I was looking forward 
to a quiet holiday. But alas it was no to be I An- 
other revolution^ broke out at Constantinople ! We 
poor rulers It seems are not entitled to holidays like 
other simple mortals. The troubles in the East 
made me very anxious for the time and still do so. 
The east is a regular nightmare a "boite a sur- 
prises".^ I would be most grateful if you could 
kindly write to me what your opinion Is about the 
general outlook in Turkey. An exchange of our 
views is urgent and necessary lest fresh events should 
again take us by surprise. 

The events of the last half year are a vivid proof 
of the absolute necessity of doing so ; as they clearly 
show that It would have been most profitable if we 
had immediately communicated with each other at 
the outbreak of the crisis. 

"If you and I join in loyal and open cooperation 
for the maintenance of Peace — which Is my most 
fervent wish — I am thoroughly convinced that 
Peace will not only be maintained but not even be 
troubled. There Is not a shadow of doubt that 
Peace guarantees the vital Interests, the security and 
wellfare of our People as well as of our dyansties. 
Will you kindly accept as birthday present a water- 
colour sketch made by a clever Corfiote painter 
[232] 



Letter s from the Kaiser to the Czar 

representing the "Achilleon"* seen from the olive- 
grove at the foot of the hill. We spent a lovely 
time there under a blue sky, surrounded by sweet 
scents and the marvellous display of any amount of 
flowers spending the whole day nearly out of doors, 
sitting on the marble terraces in the shade of fine 
palmtrees. I hope that once I may be able to show 
you this Paradise when you chance to be yachting in 
the Mediterranean. We made many charming ex- 
cursions par Auto with tea picnics in the country, quite 
delightful. The island is quite lovely and the people 
quiet, simple and very polite, and no tourists ! To- 
day we leave with a heavy heart on our return 
journey to Malta, Brindisi, Pola.^ We saw much 
of the King and Queen^ and I had the great pleasure 
of seeing my sister"^ very often. 

Now goodbye dearest Nicky, best love to Alix and 
the children, especially the boy, God bless and pro- 
tect you, au revoir I hope and believe me 

Ever 
Your most aff-ate and devoted friend and cousin 

Willy 



NOTES 

I. The affairs which had threatened to become dangerous were 
connected with Bulgaria's outstanding compensation to Tur- 
key, the negotiations over which were impeded by friction be- 
tween Constantinople and Sofia on associate questions. Mobili- 
sation and movements of troops by both Powers caused Europe 

[ 233 ] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

to be apprehensive of fresh conflicc, but trouble was averted 
by an offer from Russia for the capitalisation of the Russian 
indemnity for the war of 1876. The solution thus affected 
was ratified on April 19th, three weeks before the present 
letter. At the same time Bulgaria's independence, proclaimed 
by Turkey the previous year, was formally recognized by all 
the signatories to the Berlin Treaty. 

2. The Kaiser had not reached Corfu when, on April 13th, the 
revolution broke out in Constantinople which led to the resig- 
nation of Hilmi Pasha, and the appointment of Tewfik Pasha 
in his place, as Grand Vizier, the brief overthrow of the Com- 
mittee of Union and Progress and ultimately its return and 
the deposition of Abdul-Hamid on April 27th. 

3. A box of surprises. 

4. The Kaiser's palace in Corfu. 

5. The Kaiser and Kaiserin visited Malta on the loth, where 
they were received by the Duke and Duchess of Connaught; 
Brindisi on the 12th, where they met the King and Queen of 
Italy; and Pola on the 13th. From there they went to Vienna, 
where the Kaiser's visit was one of great ceremony. 

6. The King and Queen of Greece. 

7. The wife of Constantine, then Crown Prince of Greece. 



[234] 



> LXIII 

Neues Palais 20/x 09 

Dearest Nicky 

As Tatischeff leaves Berlin to accompany you 
during your journey^ through our country I send you 
a short line by way of a salute. May your journey 
be pleasant and your stay In Italy agreeable and 
favoured by weather as we are here. Our Man- 
oeuvres^ went off very well and were most success- 
ful as he will have reported to you. Discipline and 
marching powers of the Infantry very exceptional 
and brilliant. The country was Interesting but most 
difficult beeing very hilly and partly wooded. The 
field kitchens copied from your models have proved 
most practical and were freely used. A very stir- 
ring moment for the spectators at the last day of the 
manoeuvres was the appareance of the Zeppelin^ 
airship accompanied by the military airship, which 
manouevered around It. My hunting stay In Romin- 
ten was favoured by such an exceptionally fine sum- 
mer weather as we have not enjoyed for a long 
time. I killed 21 stags among them 6 of first class. 
The St. Johns Hospital which I built In the small 
frontier-town of Kittkehmen (opposite Wyschty- 

[235] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

nez) has answered very well, and during my in- 
spection I saw several Russian patients we were 
able to care for. I am glad to hear that on account 
of the newly endowed Rontgen-Ray Cabinet, which 
I dedicated to the Hospital they have a good number 
of Russian patients, who come there to be "Durch- 
leuchted"* and we have done lots of good. You 
kindly sent a sum through Stremaukofi^ the Gov- 
ernor of Suwalki, who kindly came and inspected the 
Hospitals for which I beg you to accept my warmest 
thanks. He followed my invitation to Rominten. 
and dined with us; he is a very nice, quiet and agree- 
able man, and keeps "Gute Nachbarshaft"*^ with his 
Russian Collegues over the frontier, who are en 
rapport with him. I thought you would be pleased 
to know what a capable and good "representant" 
you have on this part of your frontier, which I regu- 
larly visit, as he is universally respected by my 
people. 2 days ago my daughter^ was confirmed in 
the Friedenskirche, and she pleased everybody by 
the brave way she passed the ordeal of reading her 
''Confession" out to the community all people were 
deeply moved and I was very proud of her. For 
she showed a depth of feeling, and a seriousness 
in dealing with the problem of Life and Religion, 
which deeply impressed the assembled clergy; the 
more so as she wrote it quite alone, forbidding any- 
one to help her. The splendid summer still con- 
tinues all the roses are out and the flowerbeds full 

[236] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

of colour like In August! The enclosed card cor- 
responds exactly to the light of this evening. 

With best wishes believe me dearest Nicky ever 
your most devoted 

cousin and friend 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. The reference is to the visit of the Czar later in the month 
to Italy, when he was received by King Victor Emmanuel at 
Racconigi. A secret treaty, it was later disclosed, was con- 
cluded there between Russia and Italy. 

2. At Morgentheim, in Wiirtemberg, from September 13 to 17. 
The Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the Earl of Lonsdale, Mr. 
Winston Churchill, and General Sir Bruce Hamilton were 
among those attending them. 

3. The airship referred to was the "Zeppelin III." which set 
out on the morning of the 17th from Frankfort for Morgen- 
theim, a distance of about 200 miles. 

4. Ex-rayed. 

5. Peter P. Stremoukhov, Councillor of State, and Governor of 
Suwalki. 

6. Good neighbors. 

7. Princess Victoria Louise, born 1892, who in 1913 married the 
Duke of Brunswick. 



[237] 



LXIV 

Berlin ii/i io. 
Dearest Nicky 

So many thanks for your very kind letter with the 
photos Henry brought me, which pleased me much. 
What an excellent idea of yours making a two 
hours march in a private's kit and finding out for 
yourself what it means to carry such a load in the 
field! I am very glad to hear that you were satis- 
fied with the appearance and behaviour of my depu- 
tation for poor Uncle Micha's^ funeral. Thank you 
so much for the kind reception you gave them. 
They were very grateful for the permission to do 
duty on guard near his bier. 

Henry faithfully repeated all the messages you 
intrusted him with for me. I entirely share your 
views. I can perfectly understand that develop- 
ments in the Far East^ are absorbing your atten- 
tion. 

The communication made to him about your deci- 
sions to withdraw 4 Army Corps from our frontier 
has given me great satisfaction. The more so as 
Henry told me, that in informing him of your de- 
cision you referred in the heartiest terms to the tra* 

[238] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

ditional friendship of our 2 countries and their 
brotherhood In arms established a century ago. You 
well know how I allways had and will have these 
sacred relations at heart and I need not tell you how 
deeply gratified I am at your kind and touching 
words. 

I hope this letter will reach you on New Years day 
and I seize this opporunlty of renewing to you and 
Alix the best wishes for the happy New Year for 
all of you God grant. 

I hope to again hear from you as soon as you will 
be able to finally fix the date for our meeting in 
German waters. Henry suggested that he thought 
beginning of August on your and my return from 
Norway would suit you best? What a pleasure, the 
idea of seeing you dearest Nicky again! Best love 
to Alix and the children, the boy in particular, and 
believe me 

Ever 
Your true and devoted friend and cousin 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. Grand Duke Michael Nicholaievitch, the Czar's great-uncle. 

2. There were numerous international complications at this time 
arising out of railways administration and construction in 
Manchuria and elsewhere in the Far East. 



[239] 



LXV 

Neues Palais^ 
Dearest Nicky 

Allow to me to lay before you confidentially a mat- 
ter of importance to me. 

It is the question of wether you would perhaps 
care to see a change in the person of the Aide-de- 
Camp, who has the honour of beeing attached to 
your person from here. As at our former meetings 
you allways spoke very highly of your appreciation 
of Capt. V. Hintze's qualities, and that he fully en- 
joyed your confidence, I do not desire to take any 
steps before having heard from you, or to act with- 
out your approval. 

Please let me know quite unrestrainedly and 
frankly what you think about this matter. Should 
you think it desirable for me to replace Hintze, I 
would first communicate with you about the choice 
of his successor. 

Your wishes in this respect are of the highest im- 
portance to me, as I consider it an absolute necessity, 
that the officer, who is attached by me to your per- 
son should command your fullest confidence. 

I am glad to hear from the Chancellor that he Is 
[240] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

having a satisfactory exchange of views on different 
questions with Sassonoff,^ which may be settled to 
mutual satisfaction. 

We are still thinking of the kind visit you paid us 
here and hope that the homeward journey did not 
fatigue Alix too much. Best love to her and the 
children from your 

devoted cousin and friend 

Willy 



NOTES 

This letter was written at the end of November or the begin- 
ning of December, 1910. 

During the visit of the Czar and Czarina in Potsdam on No- 
vember 4th, 1910, the Russian Foreign Minister, Sazonoff, dis- 
cussed at length with the German Chancellor a number of in- 
ternational questions, including that of the Bagdhad Railway, 
which also formed the subject of subsequent discussions. 



[241] 



LXVI 

Neues Palais 24/xii 19 10 
Dearest Nicky 

I am most grateful for your frank answer con- 
cerning Hintze.^ I learn with deep regret from 
your letter that he no longer enjoys your confidence, 
I have therefore decided to recall him. 

As his successor I would propose sending Major 
Gen : a la suite von Lauenstein at present in com- 
mand of a Brigade of Infantry in Hanover. He 
was my personal aide-de-camp before taking over his 
command. You will probably remember him from 
the time he was mili. attache to St. Petersburg; he 
also had the honour of accompanying your army to 
the war, and as I hear he was most popular with 
your officers. He is a most capable soldier and all- 
together most reliable and trustworthy. He writes 
a splendid german style, and were consequently 
member of 3 committees who sat on the Reform of 
the Regelements of our Infrantry, Artillery and 
Cavalry, all three having emanated from his pen. 

I place unlimited confidence in him and in the 
hopes of your approval to my proposal look forward 
to your answer. 

[242] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

I had Osten-Sacken^ for lunch the other day. His 
health seems perfect and he was in high spirits. I 
am so glad you made him a knight of St. Andrews 
and I very much appreciate your most friendly and 
sympathetic allusion to the relations of our two 
countries in the letter which you addressed to the 
dear old gentleman on this occasion. 

I got some charming cards from Alix with the 
children as a group please thank her from me for 
them. I send you a "couteau de chasse" and to 
Alix a "saladiere" for the zakouska table, made in 
my Majolikafactory,^ and mounted in silver in Dres- 
den. 

With the best wishes for a happy prosperous New 
Year, which may be one of Peace, and much love 
to Alix and the children I remain 

Ever your devoted friend and cousin 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. This Captain von Hintze afterwards became the well-known 
Admiral. After the fall of Kiihlmann, he became German 
Secretary for Foreign Affairs. 

2. Russian ambassador at Berlin. 

3. The Royal factory at Meissen, a few miles west of Dresden, 
until 1863 in the fortress of Albrechtsburg, and <:hereafter 
nearer th<B city. 



[ 243 ] 



LXVII 

Corfu 21/iv 191 1 
Dearest Nicky 

As your Easter is approaching I beg to be allowed 
to send you my warmest Easterwishes through these 
lines. It is a time in which one allways passes in 
review ones acts and thoughts, before one goes to 
the Communion, and at this and after it one goes 
back into ones life with fresh resolutions and re- 
affirmed convictions. To these latter ones I rekon 
our relations to each other and our firm friendship 
for one another which were so happily confirmed 
at Wolfsgarten^ and at Potsdam. You may allways 
count on me and my faithful interest in you and 
your family and your country. 

We had a lovely time here amid flowers, scent, 
blue sky and sun. Only in the week before last it 
was cold and rainy. We were greatly surprised and 
interested in the quite unexpected discovery, by a 
chance experimental digging, of quite enormous 
sculptures belonging as it seems to an antique 
Temple^ which dates as far back as the 6th or 7th 
century b.Chr. I spent several days basking in the 

[244] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

sun and looking at the appearance of the different 
objects, which was very exciting and would have 
amused you immensely. 

I send you enclosed some photos from our house 
and garden, with the statue of Achilles I caused to 
be placed on the Terrace. Besides I enclose an ar- 
ticle recently published in the German Press, written 
by an intimate friend of Uncle Bertie, an English 
Politician; with the intention to persuade the Ger- 
mans to think better of Uncles policy than they do 
now. His name is not known. As you will see for 
yourself, it is very striking the greatest anxiety which 
governed Uncle for the future of England, was the 
possibility of the closer friendship between the 3 
Empires (Germany, Russia, Austria), which he re- 
garded as dangerous for England, and which he con- 
sequently tried to inhibit by all means in his power. 
That is the explanation for the phrase perpetually 
used by the English Press "Balance of Powers in 
Europe" i.e. keep the 3 Emperors apart, or we are 
lost, for they would assemble the whole European 
Continent around them and that Is against English 
interests. — I go to London for Grandmamas unveil- 
ing,^ at Georgy's invitation I hope to find out more 
about this — 

With best love to Alix and all I remain 

Ever your most devoted cousin and friend 

Willy 

[245] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 



NOTES 

1. On November nth, 1910, the Kaiser paid a visit to Schloss 
Wolfsgarten, near Darmstadt, where the Russian Emperor 
was living. 

2. In the course of the excavations in the village of Garitza or 
Kastrades, in Corfu, the buried ruins of one of the Corcyrean 
temples, probably dating from the beginning of the 6th Cen- 
tury B. C, were brought to light. On April 12th, 191 1, a few 
days before this letter was written, sculptures were discovered 
representing the battles between Zeus and the Giants. The 
Kaiser all day watched the operations under a blazing sun 
and without interval for food. 

3. The Kaiser was present at the unveiling of Queen Victoria's 
statue in the Mall on May i6th following. His visit lasted 
until the 21st. 



r 246 ] 



LXVIII 

WiLHELMSHOHE 8/VIII 19 1 1 

Dearest Nicky 

I am sorry that I am again compelled to approach 
you with a request relating to Gen. von Lauenstein, 
who has the honour of being attached to your august 
person. When I chose him for his post — with your 
approval— he immediately drew my attention to the 
fact that his wife was of very delicate health. I 
know her personally and am aware of the fact. Yet 
I prevailed upon him to go to his post, as you had 
written so very kindly about him. 

She now has just had her 3rd baby, which has so 
much affected her health, that the doctors have all 
agreed, that it Is quite out of the question, that she 
should stand the climate of St. Petersburg. Ac- 
cordingly Lauenstein has now again remarked his 
request to be relieved of his post. I have regretfully 
consented seeing that it is impossible to exact from 
him to lead a life permantly detached from his 
family. 

I feel assured that you will approve of my deci- 
sion taken under such serious considerations. 

I propose to send as his successor Lieut. Gen. of 

[247] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

my suite Count Dohna-Schlobitten, now In command 
of the Guards Cavalry Division. I daresay you re- 
member my presenting him to you during your last 
visit to Potsdam — which left wish us such pleasant 
recollections. He was then about to join my son for 
his trip to India and would have been on his staff 
during his stay at Zarskoje if the original itinerary 
of the journey had been carried out. 

Dohna is alltogether a genuine cavalry man— 
Frontsoldat — a first rate horseman, passionate rider 
and sportsman and allround man of the world. He 
has allways been popular with everybody in his dif- 
ferent employments: as Captain in the ist Dragoon 
guards, later as Colonel of my Hussars of the 
Guard then as Brigadier, and then as Leader of the 
Guards Cavalry Division. Last not least he won 
every officers esteem and sympathy in India ; so much 
so that the Commander in Chief of the Forces there 
has Invited him to the Coronation Durbar, to which 
I granted him leave. He will I trust on his return 
be able to give you vivid descriptions of the unique 
festivities and their unrivalled oriental splendor. 
His wife is good looking most sociable, and an old 
friend of mine from long standing. She enjoys an 
excellent position in the Berlin Court Society. 

Dohna has my entire confidence, and I trust my 
choice will meet with your approval. We are deeply 
distressed by poor Knesebecks^ sudden and untimely 
death. He was private secretary to my Grand- 
mother for 1 1 and to my wife for 21 years ! A loyal 

[248] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 



trusted and faithful friend and a thorough gentle- 
man With best love to Mix and the children (what 
is the Railway doing?) beheve me dearest Nicky 

Ever your devoted friend and cousin 

Willy 



NOTE 

I Herr Bothe von dem Kneesebeck, who died suddenly at Cassel 
' two days before this, was Assistant Ma^er of Ceremonies at 
the household of the Kaiserin. 



[ 249 I 



LXIX 

Neues Palais 12/1 19 12 
Dearest Nicky 

This letter will be brought to you by Gen. count 
Dohna just returned from India. He was present 
at the Durbar and will be able to give you vivid 
descriptions of the splendid and gorgeous scenes he 
took part in. His wife, who is staying since a few 
months at Petersburg to arrange his home for re- 
turning husband, will I am sure and hope be as agree- 
able to you and your Court as he. She writes very 
happy letters about the kindness shown to her by 
the society. As he is only just out of the tropics and 
the change to your climat with 20° beeing very sud- 
den, I crave your condescension to think of him when 
opendoor ceremonies in winter are on the pro- 
gramme. As he is very thin, beeing bald too I sug- 
gested a warm wig forthe "Blessing of the water" I 
You can decide which colour it is to have ! 

I once more send you my sincerest wishes for a 
happy New Year, joining in your hopes and prayers 
to Heaven that He may grant us a peaceful one; 
well knowing that our sentiments in this point are 
identical, for our 2 countries. I hope that Xmas 

[250] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

eve went off well and that no accidents happened 
with my gifts; especially I hope that the little ''tum- 
mies" will be none the worse for their own cooking. 

Is the electric Railway of last year still in good 
order? I was very sorry when I heard of the death 
of poor Gen. Stroukow,^ he was an excellent man 
and an old and cherished acquaintance of mine and 
a loyal friend. 

With my very best wishes also for Alix and the 
children, from whom I had through Olga such a nice 
telegram, I remain Ever 

Your most aff-ate friend and cousin 

Willy 



NOTE 

I. General Alexander P. Strukov, a well known Russian cavalry 
officer. 



r^5i] 



LXX 

ROMINTEN 3/X 1 9 12 

Dearest Nicky 

May I venture to call your attention and also your 
interest to a plan which has allready occupied my 
mind since some years. During my stays at Romin- 
ten I have minutely studied the question of the de- 
velopment of the frontier country^ on both sides in 
my vicinity. I have come to the conclusion that the 
districts on both sides of our frontier are promising 
and may expect a hopeful future. But they must 
be opened up and also, if possible, be brought into 
relation to each other. On the enclosed railway 
map, a line is marked in red, it is a new railway 
which is going to be built running around the great 
Rominter Heide, so as to rend the transport of wood 
easier than now. The line runs from Goldap, past 
Pablindsen to Szittkehmen where it strikes the 
branch line to Eydtkuhnen. The line will open up 
stone and gravel quarries and pits and will transport 
a large amount of wood out of the Rominten forest. 
Now I venture to submit to your attention the idea 
wether it would not be a practical thing for your 
Government to lay a line from Suwalki to Pablind- 

[252] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

zen and there join our line. This would develop 
commerce between the two districts in a fine way. 
Pablindzen is allready a point over which a very 
"lebhafter Verkehr" to and fro has developed and 
is promising much more, in case a line came there. 
This plan has been discussed with your authorities 
since a considerable lapse of time, and I especially 
had talked it over with Mr. de Stremaukow who 
was very much interested in it and thought it most 
necessary also in the interest of the Government of 
Suwalki. He promised me he would report to you 
in a favourable way about this scheme and prepare 
to take an active part in furthering it, when he was 
relieved from his post, and so there was an end to it. 
That is a great pity because the frontier people are 
most anxious for the development of this question 
and he was quite acquainted with all the details of 
the question on both sides of the frontier and in per- 
manent "rapport" with my authorities here. All 
this has stopped now, as his successor has a yet taken 
no steps to communicate with his collegues accross 
the frontier, though he is in office since 2 years. 
Therefore the people from all sides begged me to 
lay the matter directly before you. This I have 
done. I beg your pardon for troubling you with 
such a miserable little frontier detail; but 24 years 
living among these people I have grown together 
•with them and they have gained confidence in me. 
They are simple, quiet, laborious and as all frontier 
districts a little bit forgotten, and as it is a good 

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Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

deal to help such poor fellows on, I try my luck with 
you. I had good sport — about 19 Stags — ^but beast- 
ly weather excepting 2 days. Today snow and hail. 
Best love to Alix and the children and Waidmann- 
sheil for you from Ever your 

most aff-ate cousin and friend 

Willy 



NOTE 

Some of the lines suggested by the Kaiser were eventually 
built. They had little strategic value, however, and only served 
the busy traffic which was here developing. 



[2541 



LXXI 

Berlin 3/1 I3 

Dearest Nicky 

The messenger leaves today with my presents for 
you Allx and the children. I hope that they may 
please the august recipients. At the same time I 
send you my heartiest wishes for Xmas and a peace- 
ful New Year. I earnestly hope and trust that 1 9 1 3 
may prove a peaceful one, as you telegraphed to me 
on New Years day. I think that on the whole the 
outlook is reassuring, and that the discussions in 
London,! ^hich are progressing favourably, will 
continue to be held in a conciliatory and friendly 
spirit, in which direction the foreign Policy of your 
Government so ably cooperates with all the other 

Powers. 

I thank you for your message Tatischeff trans- 
mitted to me, who will allready have returned my 
answer to you. I trust that also this matter may 
be brought to a satisfactory issue and the difficulties 
which have arisen overcome. 

Your war minister Gen. SouchomUnow^ paid me 
a visit on his return from Leipzig. He was most 
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Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

agreeable and most interesting in his descriptions of 
his deeds during the campaign 1877. 

Up to now we have had a warm snowless winter 
here, which allows us to indulge in nice long gallops 
on horseback, nearly every day, provided it does not 
pour with rain. 

Goodbye dearest Nicky, my best love to Alix and 
the children especially to the boy, who I hope is get- 
ting better, and believe myself Ever 

Your most aff-ate cousin and friend 

Willy 



NOTES 

The London Conference of Ambassadors had met on Decem- 
ber 17th, but their discussions did not make the favorable prog- 
ress here anticipated. 

General Wladimir A. Sukhomlinov, who was dismissed as 
Minister of War and tried for corruption and mismanagement 
during the Great War. 



[ 256 ] 



LXXII 

Berlin z/\i I3 

Dearest Nicky 

So many thanks for your kind wishes and the 
splendid gift you so kindly sent me. What a great 
surprise when I entered my birthday room! and saw 
the two grand pictures. It was really a charmmg 
idea of yours to send me those two beautiful origi- 
nals which are of great artistical and historical value 
to us here, as they represent portraits of so many 
well known personality here. These pictures gave 
me a real great pleasure, and I beg you to accept 
my most hearty thanks once more. 

I am so glad to see by your letter, that the dear 
boyi is making good progress, but sorry that the 
state of Mix's health is not satisfactory, I am sure 
the weeks she spent in tending the boy, must have 
been most trying; but confidently hope that rest and 
a cure or the Crimea will soon put her to right again. 
I fervently hope with you that the Balkan troubles 
may soon be finally arranged without further com- 
plications, and am most anxious to cooperate with 
you for that purpose. Of course Austria as a near 
neighbour to those parts has interests to look after. 

[2S7] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

But I am under the Impression that In doing so, she 

does not reclaim anything for herself, but only j 

wishes to make sure that no readjustments of the | 

map occur which might turn out a danger to her in j 

future. Adalbert Is again out of bed, and tomorrow 1 

Dona^ will again take up her quarters together with ] 

me. Thank God all went off so well. Best love to ' 
Alix and the children and believe me 

Ever 
Your most devoted and aff-ate cousin 

Willy 1 



NOTES 

1. The Czarevitch Alexei. 

2. The Kaiserin. 



[258] 



LXXIII 

Berlin 18/111 1913 

Dearest Nicky 

May I inform you that we have now definitely 
fixed the date for the wedding of our dear Sissy^ for 
the 24th of May. 

The main object of my lines is to convey to you 
and Mix our most cordial invitation to the weddmg 
ceremonies. We both would only be too delighted 
if you could give us the pleasure of your presence 
and I fervently hope that you will be able to leave 
Russia for a few days to meet many of your rela- 
tives; as we have asked your dear Mama, Aunt 
Mix, Georgie and May, Waldemar^ etc. to enable 
all the "Geschwister" to meet each other as well as 

Aunt Thyra.3 

I am so glad all your festivities* went off so well 
and successfully, and that your boy could be present, 
and that he is progressing satisfactorily, and will 
soon I hope have quite recovered. After Easter 
the Cumberlands^ are coming for a visit and then 
we go to Hamburg for a month, as the damned Bal- 
kan muddle has deprived me of the possibility of 
beeing at my heavenly paradise Corfu 1 

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Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

With best love from Victoria and me to Alix and 
all the children believe me Ever your most devoted 
cousin and friend 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. Princess Victoria Louise, who on May 24 married the Duke of 
Brunswick. 

2. The Dowager Empress, Maria Feodorovna, was not present 
at the wedding. King George and Queen Mary, but not Queen 
Alexandra (Aunt Alix), accepted the invitations here referred 
to. Waldemar was the Grand Duke Vladimir. 

3. Aunt Thyra — mother of the Duke of Brunswick. 

4. From the 6th to the 9th of March the 300th anniversary of the 
Romanoffs' accession to the throne was celebrated throughout 
Russia. 

5. The Brunswick family. 



[260] 



LXXIV 

Berlin 30/1 14. 
Dearest Nicky 

Many thanks to you dear Alix and the children 
for your kind wishes and the lovely china pot which 
accompanied them. Thank God I could spend my 
birthday in happiness especially owing to the pres- 
ence of dear Sophy and Georgy who had come all 
the way from Athen to spend the day with me. I am 
most gratified that you still keep pleasant recollec- 
tions of the visit you paid us last summer on the oc- 
casion of Sissy's wedding, and you may be assured 
that we all most heartily reciprocate your kind feel- 
ings and remembrance. 

I am so glad to hear that you all have benefited 
so much by your nice stay in the Crimea, and that 
especially Alix and the boy are so much better for 
their visit to the sunny South. 

Remember the interest, which you took a few 
years ago, when you visited Homburg, and saw the 
cathedral I built there, I venture to present you with 
a book, which I have caused to be published about 
the Chapel in the New Castle of Posen.^ It is in the 
old Byzantine Style, took 7 years work and was con- 

[261] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

secrated in our presence last August. It is copied 
from Motives partly from Ravenna (Theodoric the 
Great's tomb) partly from Mon Reale and the 
Capella Palatina in Palermo. 

The mission of Bieloselsky who brought the cra- 
vat for Alix's Dragoons was a very kind thought and 
most appreciated by the Regiment; he is to lunch 
with me on Sunday. With best love to Alix and the 
dear children believe me, dearest Nicky Ever 

your devoted cousin and friend 

Willy 



NOTE 

I. The Schloss, a Romanesque structure of granite and sand- 
stone, was erected in 1905-1910. In the high tower is a chapel, 
decorated with mosaics. But there is nothing Byzantine about 
Theodoric the Great's tomb in Ravenna. 



[262] 



LXXV 

Berlin 26/111 14. 

Dearest Nicky 

General Count Dohna, who has the honour of 
beeing attached to your person, has Intimated to me 
his intention of leaving the service in the month of 
May. By the death of his father he has inherited 
a very large and extensive property as well as a very 
fine castle of Finkenstein ;^ a 100 years ago the 
Headquarter of Napoleon I before the battle of 
Eylau. He is absolutely necessary for the personal 
administration of it and so to my great regret I must 
accede to his wish. As remplacant for him I intend 
to send you, with your kind approval, his Excellency 
Gen. Lieut, v. Chelius.^ He was my Regimental 
adjutant when I commanded the Leib Garde Hus- 
ars, spent several years in Rome as militaire attache, 
commanded my old Hussar Regiment as Colonel 
with great distinction, and was on my personal ser- 
vice since then. He is quite phenomenal as musi- 
cian, and plays piano as well as Rubinstein, d' Albert 
or any other great artist. He is very agreeable and 
quite discret and absolutely reliable; he is to accom- 
pany me to Corfu next month. He speaks fluently 

[263] 



Letters from the Kaiser to the Czar 

German, English, Italian and Ancient G^eek, and 

is one of my most intimate personal friends I have. 

With best love to Alix and the children Ever your 

most aff-ate cousin and friend 

Willy 



NOTES 

1. The Castle of Finkelstein, in East Prussia, is about 20 miles 
east of the Vistula and 50 southwest from Preuss-Eylau where 
Napoleon fought and defeated the Russians and Prussians un- 
der General Bennigsen on February 8, 1807. 

2. The last personal attache of the Kaiser's to the Czar's Court. 



[264] 



